DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Social Mobility

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase social mobility in (a) Coventry, (b) the west midlands and (c) England; and what measures his Department uses to assess the effectiveness of the Government’s social mobility strategy.

Nicholas Clegg: The Government are committed to improving social mobility, as set out in our social mobility strategy, “Opening Doors, Breaking Barriers”, published in 2011. The strategy sets out a plan for improving social mobility across the whole country, incorporating polices such as early education for two-year-olds from lower income families, the Pupil Premium and the Youth Contract.
	To assess the progress of this strategy, the Government have committed to reporting regularly on a set of key indicators to track closely whether we are moving in the right direction on social mobility; I chair a group of key Ministers to oversee delivery of the strategy, and the Government have created a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission.
	These indicators were last updated in November last year, and will be updated again shortly.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Direct Selling

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment he has made of the effect of fines imposed by the Information Commissioner's Office on reducing nuisance calls and texts.

Edward Vaizey: No such assessment has been made, but we are aware that after ICO issued a large monetary penalty in November 2012 for spam text messages, the monitoring service Cloudmark reported a 10% drop in unsolicited spam SMS text messages. We remain keen to ensure robust enforcement of the regulations, so that companies breaking the rules are caught and penalised.
	Our Nuisance Calls Action Plan, which was published on 30 March 2014, details the range of legislative and non-legislative measures being taken forward to tackle nuisance calls and texts. The plan can be viewed at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nuisance-calls-action-plan-unveiled

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking to ensure that all not spot data will be properly checked before masts are proposed and plans are made public.

Edward Vaizey: The not spot data are collated and held by Ofcom and have been updated for 2014 with information from the mobile network operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned on the ground drive testing to assess the level of coverage.

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether any masts proposed as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project other than that at Fownhope have been withdrawn after a reassessment of not spot data.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS officials and Arqiva, delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, are incorporating changes in the not spot data into the project's planning. Once this planning is finalised any changes will be communicated to planning authorities.

Mobile Phones

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the criteria are by which Arqiva assesses not spot data.

Edward Vaizey: Notspot data are compiled and held by Ofcom, with information provided by the Mobile Network operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned drive testing to check the level of coverage.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he plans to take to ensure that the people have adequate mobile signal coverage in light of the decision not to proceed with a mast at Fownhope.

Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage provides value for money. Recent changes in coverage provided by the private sector have proved beneficial to Fownhope, but unfortunately this means that the Mobile Infrastructure Project can no longer go forward with plans for a mast.
	The Mobile Infrastructure Project can only intervene in areas where there is no coverage from any operator, and where an intervention achieves good value for money for the taxpayer. The Government are looking at what else can be done to extend coverage.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what progress has been made on the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire.

Edward Vaizey: Work has been ongoing in Herefordshire to search for appropriate locations for potential masts, and for each mast to come to an agreement with a landlord, find an option to transmit the signal back into the existing mobile networks, and ensure that the mast can be connected to a source of electricity.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire is on course to be delivered on schedule.

Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project has faced challenges in finding ways to connect the signal from masts back into the existing networks, and DCMS officials are assessing the impact of these challenges on overall progress and schedules.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the process was by which Arqiva arrived at its decision not to proceed with the proposed Fownhope mast.

Edward Vaizey: DCMS officials provided Arqiva with the latest data on not spots, updated by Ofcom for 2014 with information from the mobile network operators. This shows that coverage has improved in Fownhope since the inception of the project. The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast, considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage, provides value for money. Unfortunately this is no longer the case for the proposed mast location in Fownhope, and Arqiva made a recommendation to officials to not proceed.

Mobile Phones: Herefordshire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what information his Department holds on whether staff from Arqiva visited Fownhope to assess the adequacy of mobile telephone reception in that area.

Edward Vaizey: It is not in Arqiva's remit to assess adequacy of mobile telephone reception, and no Arqiva staff visited Fownhope for that purpose. It is Ofcom's role to assess the adequacy of mobile coverage and reception. Ofcom has updated the not spot data for 2014 with information from the mobile network operators, and Arqiva base their planning on that information.

Press

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 10 June 2014, Official Report, columns 67-68W, on the press, whether he has set a date for meeting victims of press abuse and their representatives.

Edward Vaizey: These arrangements are currently being finalised.

Sports: Public Participation

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the budget to encourage people in to non-professional sport in (a) Barnsley, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) England. [R]

Helen Grant: Sport England does not allocate its budget on a geographical basis. It is investing £1 billion in grassroots sport in England between 2012 and 2017. About half of this, £493 million, is being invested in national governing bodies of sport which work in all regions of England. Sport England also awards grants directly to sports clubs and projects through a range of specific funds according to the strength of applications received and evidence of local need. Sport England works proactively to identify areas which require greater investment and links with local stakeholders to make this happen wherever possible.
	While it is not possible to identify a budget for a particular area per se, it is possible to give the total value of National Lottery awards made by Sport England directly to sports clubs, projects and local authorities in a given area.
	Since 2010, projects in Barnsley have been awarded £700,988 and, for South Yorkshire, the figure is £8,755,741.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Register: British Nationals Abroad

Christopher Chope: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what recent estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the number of British citizens registered as overseas voters and the number of such citizens eligible for registration.

Gary Streeter: Every British citizen who has been registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years is eligible to vote in UK parliamentary (general) elections and European parliamentary elections.
	The Electoral Commission informs me that the most recent figure showed that there were 15,848 registered overseas voters on the UK electoral registers.
	The most recent estimates of the total number of UK citizens living abroad are 5.5 million (the Institute for Public Policy Research in 2006) and 4.7 million (The World Bank in 2010). However, it is not possible from the data to establish how many citizens living abroad were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years and are therefore eligible to vote from abroad. Even in the absence of a reliable estimate, it is nonetheless clear that the number of UK citizens living abroad who are eligible to register to vote is considerably more than those currently registered.
	The Commission runs public awareness campaigns to encourage British expatriates to register to vote; the most recent took place ahead of the European elections this year.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what criteria were used to select members of the project advisory board for the National Union of Students Alcohol Impact initiative;
	(2)  who the members of the project advisory board for the National Union of Students Alcohol Impact initiative are.

Norman Baker: The advisory board is a strategic sounding board for the Alcohol Impact pilot, providing NUS with advice to enable it to:
	maximise the impact and success of the pilot;
	identify, and react to, strategic barriers and opportunities in the short, medium and long term;
	identify, and develop, influential and effective strategic partnerships for the programme;
	develop a strong legacy plan beyond the pilot.
	Representatives for the board were selected by the NUS, in consultation with the Home Office, to provide a cross-section of groups who have expertise in a project that combines alcohol and the night-time economy, crime, higher education and community interests.
	In addition to officials from the NUS and the Home Office, 19 external advisors form the NUS Alcohol Impact advisory board.
	They are representatives of:
	Association of Managers of Student Services in Higher Education
	Association of University Directors of Estates
	Addaction
	Portman Group
	Association of Town and City Management
	British Universities and Colleges Sport
	Research and Analysis
	Leeds University Union
	Universities UK
	Best Bar None
	GuildHE
	Newcastle University
	Northamptonshire Police
	Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
	Greater Manchester Police
	British Beer and Pub Association
	Public Health England
	Best Bar None

Asylum: Syria

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been resettled in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme since its launch; and how many people are expected to arrive in the UK under that scheme by December 2014.

Karen Bradley: To date 50 Syrians have arrived in the UK under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme.
	The scheme is based on need, rather than designed to meet set arrival projections. However, we will continue to bring groups here on a regular basis, and envisage that several hundred people will be helped over the next three years.

Chief Scientific Advisers

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings she has had with her Department's chief scientific adviser in the last 12 months.

Karen Bradley: As was the case under previous Administrations, details of internal meetings are not normally disclosed.

Crime: LGBT People

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps she is taking to reduce homophobic and transphobic hate crimes against LGBT people.

Norman Baker: Tackling all forms of hate crime, including that motivated by hatred of a person’s sexual orientation or transgender identity is an issue the coalition Government takes very seriously.
	On 1 May 2014 we published ‘Challenge it, Report it, Stop it—Delivering the Government’s Hate Crime Action Plan'. This progress report provides an overview of our achievements since the action plan was first published in March 2012 and sets out our key priorities for the remainder of this Parliament. A specific action in the plan includes tackling homophobia and transphobia in sports.
	We are meeting the coalition commitment to improve the recording of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and transgender identity and are working with the police and other partners to encourage more victims to come forward. We have supported voluntary sector organisations to develop third party reporting services for LGBT victims.

Didier Pierre Paulet

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the deportation order served on Didier Pierre Paulet on 19 November 2007 pursuant to a recommendation by a Crown Court Judge for deportation has been implemented; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office does not comment on individual cases.

Driving under Influence

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drink driving offences were recorded in (a) Bury St Edmunds, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions for such offences there have been.

Norman Baker: Drink driving is a summary offence, and not a notifiable offence. The Home Office only collects data on notifiable offences.
	The number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to drink driving, in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be viewed in Table 1. The same data for Suffolk can be viewed in Table 2. The data is held by the Ministry of Justice.
	Data are not available below Police Force Area level, and so data for Bury St Edmunds cannot be provided.
	
		
			 Defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for drink-driving offences1, England and Wales, 2009 to 20132,3 
			 Outcome 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Proceeded against 70,893 55,404 52,174 52,568 50,263 
			 Found guilty 68,335 53,305 50,320 50,192 47,844 
			 1 Includes the following offences under the Road Traffic Act 1988: Driving or attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle while unfit to drive through drink or drugs—drink; Being in charge of mechanically propelled vehicle while unfit to drive through drink or drugs—drink; Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while having a breath, blood or urine alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit; In charge of a motor vehicle while having a breath, blood or urine alcohol concentration in excess of the prescribed limit; Failing without reasonable excuse to provide a specimen of breath for a preliminary test; Driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle and failing to without a reasonable excuse provide a specimen for a laboratory test or two specimens for analysis of breath; In charge of a motor vehicle and failing without reasonable excuse to provide a specimen for a laboratory test or two specimens for analysis of breath; Failing to allow specimen of blood to be subjected to laboratory test: (a) driving or attempting to drive, (b) all other cases. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice

Sexual Offences: Registration

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were convicted of a sexual offence have been prosecuted for having failed to notify their personal details to the police in the last 10 years.

Norman Baker: Figures for the number of registered sex offenders who were either cautioned or convicted for breaches of their notification requirement in England and Wales are contained in the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) Annual Report, published by the Ministry of Justice. The MAPPA reports for 2009 to 2013 may be found on the
	www.gov.uk
	website. Reports published prior to 2009 may be found on the National Archives website.
	Management of sex offenders is a devolved matter, so the figures do not include Northern Ireland.

Stop and Search

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police and crime commissioners will be able to decide on the applicability of the adoption of her Department's new guidelines on the use of stop and search by police to the area they represent.

Damian Green: It is for chief constables and police and crime commissioners to make decisions about whether and when to adopt the scheme.

Stop and Search: Essex

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations she received from the Essex police and crime commissioner on changes to guidelines for police stop and search.

Damian Green: Essex police has acknowledged receipt of the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s letter sent to chief constables on 30 April and have advised that they will submit a formal response in due course.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Counties: Lancashire

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if he will take steps to review the boundaries of the county of Lancashire.

Brandon Lewis: It is not possible to make changes to county areas other than as a consequence of local government structural or boundary changes recommended by the independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England. We have no intention of seeking such change. We are however keen to recognise and acknowledge the continuing role of England’s traditional counties in the public and cultural life of the nation and the Government have sought to encourage the marking and continued use of traditional county names and areas irrespective of current tiers of local administration.

Fire Services

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters there are per head of the population in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Brandon Lewis: The latest numbers of full-time equivalent whole-time, retained duty system and total firefighters per 10,000 head of population are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 2012-13 Wholetime firefighters(full time equivalent)per 10,000 population Retained Duty System Firefighters(full time equivalent)per 10,000 population Total firefighter(full time equivalent)per 10,000 population 
			 England 5.09 2.12 7.21 
			 Wales 4.94 4.63 9.57 
			 Sources: ONS mid-2012 population estimates, DCLG 2012-13 Annual Returns, Wales 2012-13 Annual returns

Fire Services: Pensions

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  when he next plans to meet the Fire Brigades Union to discuss the pensions dispute;
	(2)  what plans he has to make a new offer to the Fire Brigades Union based on the costings by the Government Actuary's Department.

Brandon Lewis: I have regular meetings with the Fire Brigades Union. The most recent request for a meeting has come from Matt Wrack, the General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, and is dated 20 June. I am content to agree to this request as long as the union is not in a period of strike action.
	Earlier this year I agreed that the Government Actuary’s Department could cost alternative pension scheme designs that the union had proposed. After constructive discussions, I wrote to the General Secretary on 23 April 2014 stating that its proposals were under consideration. The following day, the union prematurely called a halt to those discussions by announcing strike action. I have since published draft regulations for consultation to implement the Proposed Final Agreement which was published in May 2012. I would encourage the union to engage in that formal statutory consultation process which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-the-regulations-to-introduce-a-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-from-april-2015

Fire Services: Pensions

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie) of 11 June 2014, Official Report, column 152W, on fire services: pensions, if he will publish the outstanding information requested by the Fire Brigades Union.

Brandon Lewis: On 12 June I published all the costings that the Fire Brigades Union requested the Government Actuary’s Department to undertake on its behalf. The costings and related communications can be found at the following link:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/firefighters-pension-schemereforms
	I also placed copies in the Library of the House.

Landlords: Planning Permission

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  if he will take steps to ensure that the legal owner of a property is identified when a planning application is submitted relating to that property;
	(2)  what representations he has received on landlords who own multiple properties disguising their ownership of a property when submitting a planning application.

Nicholas Boles: I am not aware of representations about landlords who own multiple properties disguising their ownership of a property when submitting a planning application.
	It is already a requirement that planning applications must be accompanied by a certificate which applicants must complete that provides certain details about the ownership of the application site. An application is not valid, and therefore cannot be determined by the local planning authority, unless the relevant certificate has been completed.

Planning

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on their obligations to take action against breaches of planning law.

Nicholas Boles: Paragraph 207 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the policy for enforcement, and can be found at the following link:
	http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/policy/achieving-sustainable-development/decision-taking/
	The new planning guidance has a section entitled “Ensuring effective enforcement”, which can be found at the following link:
	http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/ensuring-effective-enforcement/
	In August 2013 we published guidance for local authorities on dealing with illegal and unauthorised encampments, which can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-illegal-and-unauthorised-encampments-a-summary-of-available-powers

Planning

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent steps he has taken to speed up the planning system.

Nicholas Boles: We have reformed the planning system to make it simpler, more positive and faster to navigate. We have abolished top-down regional planning and increased the types of development that benefit from permitted development rights. Where planning permission is required, we have stripped away unnecessary information requirements while retaining essential safeguards. The National Planning Policy Framework, and our recently published simplified planning guidance, provides a significantly clearer basis for making decisions than the confusing array of sometimes contradictory policy that we inherited; and we have taken steps to tackle under-performance by planning authorities where this occurs.
	The latest statistics show that these steps are having a significant impact. For example, district level planning authorities between January and March 2014 granted 76% of major applications on time compared with 60% in the same quarter in 2013.

Right to Buy Scheme

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps his Department is taking to monitor the effect of the preserved right to buy on the number of affordable homes;
	(2)  how many homes have been sold to date through the preserved right to buy; what steps his Department takes to ensure such homes can be replaced; and how many homes sold under preserved right to buy have been replaced to date.

Kris Hopkins: This Government want to ensure that as many social tenants as possible are helped to achieve their home ownership aspirations. The preserved right to buy ensures that social tenants who were living in their homes at the time of a stock transfer maintain their important right to home ownership. Figures for preserved right to buy sales are collected by the Department on an annual basis. In the first year of the reinvigorated scheme (2012-13), there were 2,458 preserved right to buy sales. Sales data for previous years (table 648) can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
	As housing associations are independent organisations, and stock transfer agreements are private commercial contracts, we do not mandate what they do with receipts they receive from preserved right to buy sales. It is the Department’s expectation that these receipts should be used to help fund new homes for affordable rent, and we would encourage housing associations to work in partnership with local authorities, and use other sources of cross-subsidy, to help achieve this.
	For future stock transfers, my Department has recently published a Stock Transfer Manual which sets out our intention to require that, for transfers completing after 30 September 2014, net proceeds from preserved right to buy sales are, within three years, used to fund new affordable housing at no greater subsidy cost than under the main affordable homes programme.

Right to Buy Scheme

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what changes have been made to the preserved right to buy since May 2010; and what consultation processes have accompanied such changes.

Kris Hopkins: Helping people to achieve their home ownership aspirations is a central part of the Government’s housing strategy. This is why the Government reinvigorated the right to buy and, by extension, the preserved right to buy, increasing the maximum cash caps to £75,000 in April 2012. At the same time, the Government committed to keeping the discounts under review to ensure they remain effective.
	To reflect the unique nature of the housing market in London, the maximum cash cap for London was increased to £100,000 in March 2013. As part of keeping the discounts under review, the Government are currently legislating to increase annually the maximum cash cap by the consumer price index, and to bring the maximum percentage discount available for houses up, from 60% to 70%, to the same level as that available for flats. We are also legislating, via the Deregulation Bill, to decrease the qualifying eligibility period from five years to three years, bringing it in line with the policy’s original intentions.
	My Department consulted widely on changes to the right to buy prior to the reinvigoration of the scheme in April 2012. We have held roundtable meetings with key partners, such as the National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association and individual local authorities, on the further changes outlined above.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Computer Software

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, what estimate he has made of the cost to date of introducing Office 365; what the final cost of introducing Office 365 is expected to be; and what feedback on the installation has been received so far from (a) hon. Members and (b) House staff.

John Thurso: The costs of the Microsoft 365 project to September 2014 are:
	2013-14—£355,667
	2014-15—£144,333
	The net savings made as a result of this project for 2014 to 2020 are:
	
		
			 Savings (thousand) 
			  2013-141 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 Total 
			 Revenue—Staff 0 191 191 191 191 191 191 1,146 
			 Revenue—Other -33 22 232 282 293 292 295 1,381 
			 Total -33 213 423 473 483 483 486 2,527 
			 1 The negative figure for 2013-14 reflects the start-up cost of the project. 
		
	
	Office 2013 is the latest versions of Word, Excel and Outlook. Microsoft 365 is Microsoft’s cloud-hosted version of these tools, together with some new tools accessible once a user’s e-mail box has been migrated to Microsoft 365.
	The Microsoft 365 project has provided all users with the upgraded version of the Office 2013 suite. 90% of Members and their staff have upgraded their machines to Office 2013. As part of the pilot of Microsoft 365, 12 Members and their staff have had their mailboxes migrated to Microsoft 365. The remaining Members and their staff e-mail boxes will be migrated to Microsoft 365 in June and July 2014. All House staff have completed both of these steps.
	The general feedback from Members and their staff has been that the new product is similar to Office 2007, with some people liking the new features. We have received some negative feedback about the colour scheme of Outlook 2013 and about the new location of file/print/save buttons in Office 2013; similar feedback was received from House staff. In response PICT have produced guidance for staff on how to darken the colour scheme in Outlook and have been assured by Microsoft that they are working to address the interface issues in future upgrades.
	There were some difficulties reported by people upgrading their Office 2013 remotely. This was due to the slow download of security updates for users with poor broadband connections.
	The Members and their staff taking part in the pilots of Microsoft 365 have given positive feedback on the communications, support materials and service provided by PICT. As part of the migration Members have to reconnect their mobile devices to the new service and this has caused some difficulty for Blackberry users.
	The migration of House staff to Microsoft 365 overlapped with unrelated network failures in January–February 2014, which affected perception of the product. Feedback from those migrated after the network was stabilised was much more positive. We have recently initiated 30 pilots of the wider suite of tools in Microsoft 365, and we have received positive feedback from these pilots, with users requesting to keep the new tools.

Parliament: Wi-fi

Michael Fabricant: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, whether the Commission plans to modify the Parliamentary wi-fi system to enable automatic log-in by Blackberry and other devices without the need to enter a username and password manually each time.

John Thurso: There are no immediate plans to change the current method of connection. PICT is aware of the restriction that the current arrangement places on users, and will look afresh at the authentication needed for known users of the guest wi-fi service, “Internet Direct”.

Parliamentary Information and Communications Technology Service

Thomas Docherty: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross representing the House of Commons Commission, which contractors have been hired by PICT during the current financial year; and which such contractors have had their contracts terminated due to poor performance. [Official Report, 26 June 2014, Vol. 583, c. 3-4MC.]

John Thurso: So far during the financial year 2014-15 PICT has employed 57 contractors, of whom 14 have been supporting services for Members. Further details cannot be provided without identifying individuals. Many are on short-term contracts. None has had a contract terminated early.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Beef: Imports

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what quantity and value of beef was imported to the UK from each importing country in the last year.

George Eustice: The following table provides details of UK imports of beef and veal as recorded in the Official Overseas Trade Statistics for the period May 2013 to April 2014. These is the latest available data.
	
		
			  May 2013-April 2014 
			 Country of dispatch Quantity (thousand tonnes) Value (£ million) 
			 Irish Republic 168 629 
			 Netherlands 15 56 
			 Germany 9 29 
			 Poland 8 30 
			 Australia 8 49 
			 Namibia 6 24 
		
	
	
		
			 Brazil 5 20 
			 Uruguay 4 22 
			 Spain 2 8 
			 New Zealand 4 17 
			 Botswana 5 16 
			 Italy 3 16 
			 France 3 9 
			 Denmark 2 8 
			 Belgium 2 10 
			 Austria 1 5 
			 Argentina <0.5 1 
			 Chile <0.5 <0.5 
			 U.S.A. <0.5 <0.5 
			 Hungary <0.5 <0.5 
			 Portugal <0.5 <0.5 
			 Switzerland <0.5 <0.5 
			 Nauru <0.5 <0.5 
			 Greece <0.5 <0.5 
			 Beef and veal imports total 246 949 
			 Source: HM Revenue and Customs 2013 and 2014 Data are subject to amendments

Birds of Prey

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many red kites there are in the UK; and whether his Department has set a population number above which it will take steps to control that population.

George Eustice: The most recent estimate of red kites in the UK is 1,600 breeding pairs (as recorded by both the British Trust for Ornithology and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 2013).
	The Government have no plans to control red kites.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the accuracy of TB tests for alpacas; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency undertook research sponsored by the British Alpaca Society, the British Llama Society and British Camelids Ltd to validate ante-mortem TB tests in camelids. Their report was delivered to the sponsors in 2012 and a copy can be found at:
	http://www.llama.co.uk/resources/Validation_of_ante_mortem_TB_tests_in_Camelids.pdf
	The outcome of that research formed the basis of DEFRA’s proposals for combined skin and blood TB testing of camelids on which we consulted in April this year. They can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bovine-tb-disease-controls-for-deer-and-camelids

Forests: Christchurch

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what environmental impact assessment the Forestry Commission has carried out in respect of the proposed corridor up to 65 metres wide through Hurn Forest for cables connecting Navitus Bay offshore wind farm with the national grid.

Dan Rogerson: The Forestry Commission is fully committed to protecting and improving the nation's public forests for the benefit of people, nature and the economy. It is not required to carry out a formal environmental impact assessment in this case but it has considered the potential impact of the cable route and is working with the developer to ensure that the impact is minimised. Any woodland that is lost will be restored to heathland to improve the diversity of habitat, as well as opening the views and improving public access.

Mangoes

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) economic and (b) infection risks to UK and EU fruit and vegetable production arise from the importation of mangoes or other fruit infested with tephritidae.

Dan Rogerson: Tephritidae is listed as a ‘quarantine’ pest under European Union (EU) legislation. All quarantine pests have been assessed as presenting a significant economic or environmental risk to the EU and therefore their introduction into its territory is prohibited.

Mangoes: India

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent meetings his Department has had with representatives of (a) the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, (b) National Asian Business Association and (c) other representative organisations or affected businesses to discuss (i) the EU ban on importation of mangoes from India, (ii) any alternatives to a ban and (iii) measures to mitigate the effect of such a ban on UK importers, distributors, retailers and restaurateurs.

Dan Rogerson: Lord de Mauley chaired a roundtable discussion on 21 May with the National Asian Business Association, the Fresh Produce Consortium and the Indian high commission to discuss the implications of the European Union (EU) ban on mangoes from India and what help the UK might be able to offer India to comply with EU import requirements. DEFRA officials have also met these bodies and other trade representatives to discuss the issue.

Mangoes: India

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the economic effect of the EU ban on importing Indian mangoes on UK businesses.

Dan Rogerson: The gross annual cost to UK businesses of the European Union ban on importing mangoes from India has been estimated at around £375,000 per year.

Mangoes: India

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his policy is on the recent EU ban on Indian mangoes;
	(2)  what proportion of mango lots or number of shipments infested by tephriditae were rejected by Fera in each of the last five years; and from which source country each infected shipment was exported;
	(3)  which countries possess comparative levels of fruit fly infestation in exported mangoes and are not subject to an EU ban on importation;
	(4)  whether any alternatives to a full ban on the importation of Indian mangoes were (a) considered by his Department's officials and (b) put forward to European Commissioners.

Dan Rogerson: The ban was imposed following persistent interceptions of plant pests on imports of Indian produce into the European Union (EU) and critical reports from the European Commission’s Food and Veterinary Office audits in 2010 and 2013. Despite assurances from India in response to these reports the level of interceptions remained high. The EU’s decision to introduce a ban was therefore fully justified and supported by all member states including the UK, in line with our policy of strengthening plant health controls. Therefore, no alternatives to a ban were considered by DEFRA.
	Protecting plant health is a key DEFRA objective. Plant pests and diseases such as those intercepted from India in recent years can cause serious damage to the UK glasshouse industry which is worth over £300 million per annum. However, I am aware of the importance of the mango trade and DEFRA officials are liaising with the Indian high commission on what support the UK can offer to India to help it ensure compliance with EU import requirements.
	The following table shows the number of consignments of mangoes imported into the UK in the last five years which were infested with tephriditae (and therefore rejected) by country of origin. The European Commission is considering similar measures to those taken against India for other countries with high levels of interceptions of plant pests. Such consideration takes account of findings from all member states, and covers all plant commodities and all pests identified.
	
		
			  Country of origin Number of consignments imported into the UK Number of consignments infected with tephritidae 
			 2010 Dominican Republic 351 1 
			  India 1,977 1 
			  Jamaica 228 3 
			  Pakistan 3,302 6 
			     
			 2011 Dominican Republic 417 2 
			  India 1,836 11 
			  Jamaica 262 3 
			  Pakistan 3,690 19 
			  Puerto Rico 1 1 
			  Sri Lanka 144 1 
			  Uganda 138 1 
			     
			 2012 Bangladesh 146 1 
			  Brazil 445 1 
			  Costa Rica 70 2 
		
	
	
		
			  Dominican Republic 606 18 
			  Ghana 628 15 
			  India 3,448 23 
			  Jamaica 332 24 
			  Kenya 2,044 4 
			  Pakistan 5,128 81 
			  Philippines 12 2 
			  Sri Lanka 189 10 
			  St Lucia 50 1 
			  Thailand 1,050 3 
			  Uganda 104 2 
			     
			 2013 Brazil 316 3 
			  Dominican Republic 756 16 
			  Ghana 357 4 
			  Guinea 7 1 
			  India 3,563 13 
			  Jamaica 516 17 
			  Kenya 1,654 17 
			  Pakistan 5,910 47 
			  Puerto Rico 104 1 
			  Sri Lanka 111 3 
			  UAE 1 1 
			  Vietnam 77 1 
			     
			 2014 (to 18 June 2014)    
			  Brazil 106 1 
			  Dominican Republic 420 3 
			  Ghana 271 1 
			  India 401 1 
			  Jamaica 464 9 
			  Kenya 698 7 
			  Mexico 61 1 
			  Senegal 4 1 
			  Sri Lanka 69 3 
			 Source: FERA and Europhyt

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will issue guidance to the West Midlands Waterways, the Canal and River Trust and other similar trusts that replies to hon. Members who have written on behalf of their constituents should be signed.

Dan Rogerson: As independent charities, handling correspondence is entirely a matter for the Canal and River Trust and other similar trusts. However, I have asked my officials to draw this issue to the attention of the trust at their next meeting.

Nature Conservation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the farming of endangered species for commercial gain.

George Eustice: The UK is committed to the protection of endangered species, including through playing a leading role in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITES promotes the sustainability of endangered species through either prohibiting trade or strictly controlling any trade through a licensing system. The breeding and ranching of endangered species for commercial gain can be permitted under CITES. The UK fully supports the aims of CITES and works to ensure that assessment of whether trade should be permitted for any particular species is based on robust scientific evidence.

Plastic Bags: Taxation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the annual income from the carrier bag levy in the four years from October 2015.

Dan Rogerson: The estimated gross revenue from the charge in England is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 
			 Calendar year 2015 2016 2017 2018 
			 Revenue 22.1 110.5 112 113.5 
		
	
	The Government expect retailers covered by the charge to deduct reasonable costs from the revenue raised and use the remaining part for good causes. VAT will be included in the 5p charge.
	No profits generated from this charge goes to the Government.

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

Dan Rogerson: Core DEFRA provides three telephones lines with the prefix 0845 operated under contract by an external provider. Alternative numbers charged at BT local rates, using the prefix 0345, are available for all three lines and are the primary numbers. 0845 prefix numbers have been retained in order to minimise disruption to users during the transition to 0345 prefixed lines.
	Information on the number of calls each number has received in the last 12 months will be placed in the Library of the House.

EDUCATION

Chemistry: Teachers

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many chemistry teachers in secondary schools in each constituency have a chemistry degree.

David Laws: An estimate for the information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Further Education: Admissions

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proportion of school leavers in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England entered further education in each of the last four years.

Matthew Hancock: Destination Measures data, following key stage 4 and key stage 5, are published at local authority level for the years 2009/10 and 2010/11. Parliamentary constituency level data are published for 2010/11 only.
	The requested data, for the available years, are published in the Destination Measures statistical first release, here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-destinations

Local Education Authorities: Disclosure of Information

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps his Department is taking to ensure that local education authorities have procedures in place to protect whistleblowers.

Edward Timpson: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 411W, on local education authorities: disclosure of information.

School Choice

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent estimate he has made of the number of school-age children living in areas where the only state schools within reasonable travelling distance are faith schools.

David Laws: We have made no such estimate. Local authorities have responsibility for securing sufficient school places to meet the needs of their local communities and have the statutory duties and powers to support that. They must also ensure that the balance of different types of provision meets local demand and that they make suitable transport arrangements for eligible pupils.
	The Government recognise the need to ensure that new provision meets the needs of the whole community. New academies and free schools with a religious designation may only prioritise up to 50% of pupils on the basis of faith-related admissions criteria.

Schools: Disciplinary Proceedings

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provision is in place for a member of school staff to contest an unjust or open-ended suspension.

David Laws: School staff who believe that they have been unfairly suspended or subjected to an unreasonable period of suspension can choose to submit a formal grievance to their employer.

Science: Primary Education

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many primary schools in England have a (a) science subject leader and (b) subject leader who has a science degree.

David Laws: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Teachers: Training

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how long the recruitment period will be for subject knowledge enhancement courses for 2015-16.

David Laws: Recruitment to subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses is a matter for providers of initial teacher training and lead schools in the School Direct programme. We have announced funding support for SKE courses up to 31 March 2015 and will make a further announcement for the period beyond that in due course.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

China

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he had on nuclear power with (a) his Chinese counterpart and (b) other members of the delegation of the Chinese Prime Minister during their visit to the UK in June; what matters were agreed; and if he will publish texts of any such agreements reached.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), met Premier Li and various Chinese companies to discuss areas of ongoing co-operation within the nuclear power sector. During these discussions the UK and Chinese Governments signalled a deepening of their partnership on civil nuclear energy through the signing of a joint statement on civil nuclear power.
	Alongside this, HMG have signed a Four Party Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Civil Nuclear Fuel Cycle Supply Chain with the INS, CNNC and CAEA to further co-operation across the civil nuclear backend fuel cycle, creating potential commercial opportunities for UK companies.
	Both countries see the importance of working together on the UK’s nuclear new build programme, China’s own domestic civil nuclear programme and in third country markets, to maximise the billion pound opportunities this presents for both UK and Chinese companies.
	Both the joint statement and Four Party MoU are published on our website at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multimillion-boost-to-uk-economy-as-china-and-uk-government-sign-civil-nuclear-agreement-and-sign-agreement-to-deepen-cooperation-on-climate-change

Coal: Mining

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether UK Coal Surface Mining is a limited company wholly owned by UK Coal Mining Holdings; and whether it can be sold off as a separate entity without the £20 million loan package being agreed between all parties.

Michael Fallon: Any sale of all or part of the UK Coal group of companies would be a matter for the relevant board/boards of directors to consider and decide upon.

Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of community energy schemes that have not gone ahead due to the cost of securing a connection to the local grid; if he will make it his policy to (a) introduce standardised affordable grid connection charges for community energy schemes and (b) exempt community energy schemes from wider network upgrade costs; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: In January 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change launched the UK’s first Community Energy Strategy. As part of this, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr Davey), established a Community Energy Grid Connection Working Group to consider barriers to community energy project grid connections, including issues such as the cost of securing a connection and the impact this has on deployment. The working group is due to report to the Secretary of State in summer 2014 outlining its recommendations.

Energy: Meters

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate he has made of the number of households with prepayment meters in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in each year between 1996 and 2014.

Gregory Barker: Data are not available to the Department on the number of households with prepayment meters at the parliamentary constituency or local authority level.
	Statistics are produced on a quarterly basis which show the proportion of households on prepayment tariffs by public electricity supply (PES) region. These are made available through the DECC publication Quarterly Energy Prices, in tables 242 (electricity) and 252 (gas), which can be found online at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/quarterly-domestic-energy-price-stastics

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what estimate his Department has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in each year between 1996 and 2012;
	(2)  what forecast his Department has made of the number of households in fuel poverty in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority in (i) 2013 and (ii) 2014.

Gregory Barker: The estimated number and proportion of households which are fuel poor for 2011 and 2012 under the Low Income High Costs (LIHC) indicator in each (a) parliamentary constituency and (b) local authority is available at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/fuel-poverty-sub-regional-statistics
	The link above also provides sub-regional estimates of fuel poverty for the 10% indicator for the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. Estimates for 2006, 2008 and 2009 under the 10% indicator are available from the fuel poverty statistics archive page:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130109092117/http:/decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/statistics/fuelpov_stats/archive/archive.aspx

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund for (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) all further years for which funding has been allocated.

Gregory Barker: Up to £120 million has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in 2014-15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken. In the 2013 autumn statement, £150 million was allocated in each of 2015-16 and 2016-17 towards energy efficiency in homes.

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what estimate his Department has made of the number of households that will receive cashback under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16, (c) 2016-17 and (d) all further years for which funding has been allocated.

Gregory Barker: The total number of homes supported under the GDHIF scheme will be dependent on a number of factors. Given these are unknown factors currently, the number of homes potentially supported could vary significantly. Up to £120 million has been allocated to this scheme for 2014-15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken.

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to (a) solid wall insulation, (b) other energy efficiency and insulation measures from his Department's approved list and (c) refunds for Green Deal assessments under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in (i) 2014-15, (ii) 2015-16, (iii) 2016-17 and (iv) over the lifetime of the fund.

Gregory Barker: Up to £120 million has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in 2014-15. DECC has not allocated specific levels of funding to (a) solid wall insulation, (b) other energy efficiency and insulation measures from his Department's approved list and (c) refunds for Green Deal assessments under the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in (i) 2014-15, (ii) 2015-16, (iii) 2016-17 or (iv) over the lifetime of the fund.

Green Deal Scheme

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much funding his Department has allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund for the lifetime of the programme.

Gregory Barker: Up to £120 million has been allocated to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund in 2014-15. A decision on allocating funding for future years has yet to be taken. In the 2013 autumn statement, 5 December 2013, OfficialReport, columns 1101-13, £150 million was allocated in each of 2015-16 and 2016-17 towards energy efficiency in homes.

Land Use

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent representations he has received from industry on the effect of the use of land management measures on performance and productivity.

Michael Fallon: The Secretary of State has not received any recent direct representations from industry regarding the effect of load management on performance and industry.
	National Grid recently announced two new balancing services to balance supply and demand in the coming winters. One of these, the Demand Side Balancing Reserve (DSBR), will extend existing arrangements for companies to receive payment to reduce their electricity use or switch to on-site generators for short periods when instructed by National Grid.

Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what consumer protection is available for users of metered LPG users; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The supply of LPG is subject to UK competition law under the Competition and Markets Authority.
	The study by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into the off-grid energy market, published in October 2011, found that there was a generally positive initial impact of the Competition Commission (CC) orders from 2009 to make it easier for consumers to switch liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplier.
	In April 2012, the OFT also secured voluntary agreements from the major LPG suppliers to make changes to their domestic bulk customer contracts and improve transparency around switching and cancellation rights. These changes apply for both individual tank and metered estate customers.
	The Competition and Markets Authority will continue to keep the orders under review.

Mobile Homes: Energy

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will take steps to make consumer policies for energy more accessible to park home residents.

Gregory Barker: Energy performance certificates can now be generated for park homes and the energy company obligation is leading to improvements. For example, 200 park homes have had solid wall insulation under this scheme.
	We will be consulting later this year on ways in which we could help park home residents access the warm home discount.

Nuclear Power: Decommissioning

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what funds have been provided from his departmental expenditure limit for nuclear decommissioning in the 2014-15 financial year.

Michael Fallon: The net DEL figure for 2014-15 is £2,298.7 million.
	Source:
	DECC 2014-15 Main Estimate Explanatory Memorandum

Oil: Exploration

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many onshore petroleum exploration and development licence applications are pending approval in (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Lancashire and (d) Hyndburn constituency.

Michael Fallon: There are no onshore petroleum exploration and development licence applications pending approval in the UK.

Private Rented Housing: Energy

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department will bring forward secondary regulations on minimum standards of energy efficiency in the private rented sector under section 43 of the Energy Act 2011.

Gregory Barker: The Government will be in a position to bring forward secondary regulations on minimum standards of energy efficiency in the private rented sector once a consultation on the regulations has been published and responded to.

Private Rented Housing: Energy

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change when his Department will start a public consultation on the regulations on minimum standards of efficiency in the private rental sector under section 43 of the Energy Act 2011.

Gregory Barker: The Government are committed to a public consultation on the regulations on minimum standards of efficiency in the private rental sector. The Government expect to begin consultation shortly.

Wind Power: Suffolk

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with RWE and SSE concerning a replacement partner for the development of the Galloper offshore wind farm project.

Gregory Barker: I have not held discussions with RWE or SSE on this issue because this is a commercial matter for the parties concerned.

Wind Power: Suffolk

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the future viability of the Galloper offshore wind farm project.

Gregory Barker: Development consent was granted in May 2013 for the Galloper project. The commercial viability of the Galloper project is a matter for the developers.

CABINET OFFICE

Apprentices

Robert Halfon: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many apprentices have been hired under his Department’s new contract for procurement.

Francis Maude: The information requested is not held centrally.

Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office for what reason the minutes of the Fraud, Error and Debt Taskforce are no longer on its website.

Francis Maude: The Taskforce has recently been reconstituted.

Government Departments: Procurement

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to prevent employers who engage in blacklisting receiving Government contracts.

Nick Hurd: The blacklisting of employees is an unacceptable and unlawful practice, and the Government take any such allegations very seriously.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Security

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will commission an assessment of the effect on disabled passengers of the use of detection equipment at airports which generates random false positive alerts giving rise to the need for a full body search when nothing untoward has been detected.

Robert Goodwill: Security searches are an inconvenience for all passengers affected, but they are an important part of our security screening at airports to protect passengers from the very real threats we face. Our surveys show that the majority of passengers (91%) think that any inconvenience caused by security screening is acceptable. Our procedures work on the basis that disabled people have the same chance of being selected for a search as anyone else.
	Further statistics on air passengers’ attitudes to security searches are available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/publications/air-passenger-experience-of-security-screening-2013

Driving

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what recent discussions his Department has had with the insurance industry on the behaviour and attitudes of novice drivers;
	(2)  what recent representations he has received about deaths of young people in traffic accidents; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will publish (a) details and (b) results of focus groups with parents, young people and employers about the behaviour and attitudes of novice drivers.

Robert Goodwill: The number of young people being killed on our roads is far too high and we are determined to tackle this issue. It is an issue which, understandably, features prominently in the range of representations which we receive about road safety generally.
	As part of our consideration of the way forward, we met the insurance industry on 27 January 2014 to discuss novice drivers and, in particular, our proposed research into the role which telematics can play in changing the behaviours and attitudes of new drivers. My officials regularly talk to the insurance industry and current discussions are aimed at encouraging participation in the research project before we can get it under way. We will publish the results of the research when they are available.
	We will also publish the findings of the focus groups— comprising parents, young people and employers—which we undertook in order to get a better understanding of the issues from their perspective.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on the identification of disability tax exempt vehicles when no tax disc is present, to enable local authorities to continue to provide exemption from parking charges to such vehicles.

Stephen Hammond: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has had extensive liaison with local authorities about the abolition of the tax disc and provided a broad range of information to help inform their customers.
	From 1 October the DVLA online vehicle inquiry system will include the taxation class of the vehicle.
	A specific e-mail address has been established to deal with any queries from local authorities and a workshop has been organised for 2 July.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the EU Roadworthiness Directive on the owners of historic vehicles in the UK.

Stephen Hammond: The Department will shortly start seeking views and evidence from interested organisations, individuals and the devolved Administrations on the best way to implement the new rules in directive 2014/45/EU relating to historic vehicles. We will seek to minimise burdens while supporting road safety. Any changes need not come in to force in domestic legislation until May 2018.

HEALTH

Abortion

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to ensure the referral to the relevant authorities of terminating doctors who do not fulfil their statutory obligations to fill in HSA4 forms correctly.

Jane Ellison: The Department has recently issued a range of guidance which will help clinicians to comply with the requirements of the Abortion Act, including their obligations with regard to the completing of HSA4 forms. In addition, we are working with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to take forward their recommendations on tackling under-reporting of abortions for fetal abnormality.

Ambulance Services: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average ambulance response time for each category of call was in Bolton in each year since 2010.

Jane Ellison: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the table.
	The median response times to treatment for category A1 calls in the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust2, April 20113 to April 2014
	1 Category A calls are defined as those that are the result of immediately life-threatening incidents.
	2 North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust provides services to the Bolton area. Ambulance response times are not readily available for areas smaller than those covered by one Ambulance Trust.
	3 Information is not available before April 2011.
	
		
			 Month Median time (in minutes) 
			 April 2011 4.2 
			 May 2011 5.0 
			 June 2011 5.2 
			 July 2011 5.0 
			 August 2011 4.7 
			 September 2011 4.8 
			 October 2011 4.9 
			 November 2011 4.9 
			 December 2011 5.0 
			 January 2012 4.8 
			 February 2012 5.1 
			 March 2012 5.0 
		
	
	
		
			 April 2012 5.6 
			 May 2012 5.7 
			 June 2012 5.1 
			 July 2012 5.1 
			 August 2012 5.2 
			 September 2012 5.3 
			 October 2012 5.4 
			 November 2012 5.4 
			 December 2012 5.7 
			 January 2013 5.5 
			 February 2013 5.6 
			 March 2013 5.6 
			 April 2013 5.8 
			 May 2013 5.4 
			 June 2013 5.5 
			 July 2013 5.8 
			 August 2013 5.7 
			 September 2013 6.1 
			 October 2013 6.0 
			 November 2013 6.1 
			 December 2013 6.1 
			 January 2014 5.8 
			 February 2014 6.1 
			 March 2014 6.1 
			 April 2014 6.1 
			 Source: Ambulance quality indicators, NHS England

Cancer

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much in real terms was spent on cancer services in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how much and what proportion of national cancer spend was spent on radiotherapy in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The information is shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Estimated expenditure on cancer services and radiotherapy, 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			 £ million (in 2012-13 prices) 
			  Cancers and tumours Radiotherapy 
			 2008-09 5,281 401 
			 2009-10 5,908 435 
			 2010-11 5,685 467 
			 2011-12 5,565 473 
			 2012-13 5,681 485 
			 Sources: 1. Programme budgeting data, NHS England 2. Reference costs, Department of Health 
		
	
	It is not appropriate for a given service to present reference costs as a proportion of programme budgeting expenditure. This is because radiotherapy data are calculated from reference costs, which are the unit costs to national health service trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients. Reference costs do not represent all expenditure in the NHS, and are costs to NHS providers whereas programme budgeting data are expenditure by NHS commissioners.

Cystic Fibrosis

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the effect on health services of an increase in the number of adult patients with cystic fibrosis;
	(2)  how many people were living with cystic fibrosis in each of the last four years.

Norman Lamb: NHS England recognises that the number of adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) is gradually increasing over time. The growth in numbers is taken into account by NHS England as part of its annual commissioning process and will be considered in the ongoing development of its five-year specialised commissioning strategy.
	Information concerning the number of people living with CF in each of the last four years is not available. In the following table we have provided the number of CF patients (adults and children) cared for by specialist centres in England in each of the last three years. These data have only been collected since the introduction of the tariff for CF services in 2011.
	
		
			  Patients (number) 
			 2011 7,291 
			 2012 7,620 
			 2013 7,778 
		
	
	We would expect all CF patients to have a CF specialist in charge of their care and, as part of the ongoing support they receive, to be assessed at specialist centres.

Death

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, columns 432-33W, on death, what plans he has to address the principal causes of preventable premature mortality.

Jane Ellison: ‘Living Well for Longer: National Support for Local Action to Reduce Premature Avoidable Mortality’ (April 2014), sets out what the health and care system will do to achieve the Government's ambition for England to be among the best in Europe at reducing levels of premature mortality.
	A copy of ‘Living Well for Longer’ has been placed in the Library and is also available at:
	www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/307703/LW4L.pdf

Family Planning

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department categorises the ellaOne pill as a contraceptive or abortifacient for the purposes of its record keeping.

Jane Ellison: It is classed as a contraceptive.

Food Poisoning

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of bacillus cereus, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Organism name Specimen type Country Number of patient infection episodes 
			 2009 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 50 
			 2010 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 46 
			 2011 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 39 
			 2012 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 37 
			 2013 Bacillus Cereus Blood England 56 
		
	
	These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as ‘B. cereus’ is a ubiquitous environmental organism.

Food Poisoning

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps the Minister is taking to prevent bacillus cereus infections in the UK;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with devolved regional assemblies to agree a strategy to prevent bacillus cereus infections;
	(3)  when he plans to publish the results of the investigation of the recent death of babies due to bacillus cereus.

Jane Ellison: Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on its website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by bacillus cereus.
	The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertakes inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.
	In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parental Nutrition became contaminated with bacillus cereus. Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.
	The devolved Administrations have been informed of the current incident involving bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved Administrations for minimising bacillus cereus infection.
	The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.

Gambling

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on using the increased fixed-odds betting terminals levy to treat gambling addiction in the NHS.

Norman Lamb: No such discussions have taken place.
	The Responsible Gambling Trust expects to distribute £6,292,000 on treatment, education and research in 2014-15 and is funded by the gambling industry and further donations.

Gastrointestinal System

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on NHS patients receiving Enterra gastric stimulator treatment.

Jane Ellison: Funding of gastro-electrical stimulation procedures is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). If a clinician considers that a patient in their care may benefit from this procedure, they would need to submit an individual funding request to their CCG so that they can consider the case.
	In May 2014 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) issued new Interventional Procedure (IP) guidance on gastro-electrical stimulation for gastroparesis, which is a chronic disorder in which the stomach empties more slowly than normal. The guidance can be found at the following link:
	www.nice.org.uk/nicemedia/live/14531/67802/67802.pdf
	NICE's IP programme assesses the safety and efficacy of (mainly) new procedures that are used for diagnosis or treatment that involve incision, puncture, entry into a body cavity or the use of ionising, electromagnetic or acoustic energy. Unlike NICE's technology appraisals programme, it is not within the remit of the IP programme to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of IPs or to advise the national health service on whether IPs should be funded.

Health Visitors

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the number of health visitors employed since the start of the Health Visitor Programme.

Daniel Poulter: The Government are committed to growing by April 2015 the health visitor work force and transforming health visiting services to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities.
	The latest health visiting work force data1 (for February 2014) show that the total number of health visitors nationally is 10,267 full-time equivalents.
	There are 2,175 more health visitors compared with the May 2010 baseline of 8,092.
	1 Published on 21 May 2014 by the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The next data publication for March 2014 will be on 24 June 2014.

Health Visitors

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer of 18 March 2014, Official Report, column 571W, on health visitors, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential change in the number of health visitors working with children as a result of the transfer of funding for health visitors from the NHS to local authorities in 2015.

Daniel Poulter: The Department, NHS England, Public Health England and the Local Government Association are working closely together to develop a clear process to ensure the smooth and safe transfer of commissioning 0 to 5 years public health services, (including health visitor service) from the national health service to local authorities. In particular, the Department has established a Task and Finish Group to develop a comprehensive transfer plan comprising the key workstreams involved in the transfer.
	Health Education England (HEE), in its December 2013 publication, “Investing in People for Health and Healthcare: Workforce Plan for England Proposed Education and Training Commissions for 2014/15”, has set out its approach to training health visitors in the longer term, stating:
	“The job of HEE this year and in future years is to maintain the Health Visitor workforce at these new historically high levels.”
	At the national level, the Children’s Health and Wellbeing Partnership will provide national leadership on specific challenges, (such as the transition of the 0–5 service), by bringing together key national partners, so they can jointly contribute to ongoing improvement of outcomes for children and young people.

Hearing Aids

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on hearing aids in each of the last five years.

Norman Lamb: Information on national health service expenditure on hearing aids is not collected centrally. However, reference costs, which are the unit costs to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of providing defined services in a given financial year to NHS patients, provide some information which is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Estimated cost to NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts of hearing aid provision, 2008-09 to 2012-13 
			 £ million 
			  Hearing aid costs Associated hearing aid costs Cochlear implants and bone anchored hearing aids 
			 2008-09 60.7 89.0 18.7 
			 2009-10 57.7 96.0 17.7 
			 2010-11 55.8 103.2 19.2 
			 2011-12 62.1 118.5 26.6 
			 2012-13 62.7 127.6 25.8 
			 Notes: 1. Hearing aid costs are the actual costs of the hearing aids excluding other associated costs. 2. Associated hearing aid costs include assessment, fitting, follow-up and aftercare. 3. Reference costs are submitted on a fully absorbed basis, which means that all the costs of running the organisation are included in the return except where their exclusion is permitted. 4. Some relevant costs may be excluded. For example, maintenance and reprogramming costs for cochlear implants and bone anchored hearing aid costs were excluded from reference costs for these years. 5. The supply and fitting of hearing aids is also commissioned from the independent sector, and this expenditure is not reflected in the table. 6. 2012-13 is the latest year for which reference costs data are available. Source: Reference Costs, Department of Health.

Hearing Aids

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he plans to reduce funding for hearing aids in 2014-15.

Norman Lamb: The level of provision of hearing aids is a matter for local commissioners and is based on the needs of the local population.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in how many of licensable treatment cycles at least 20 eggs were collected in the last five years for which figures are available.

Jane Ellison: The information requested is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Licensable treatment cycles where at least 20 eggs were collected 
			 2008 2,910 
			 2009 3,095 
			 2010 3,435 
			 2011 3,466 
			 2012 3,464 
			 20131 1,764 
			 1 The year 2013 only covers the period 1 January to 30 June 2013. Source: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

Kidneys: Diseases

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to raise awareness of kidney disease among the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community.

Jane Ellison: The Department is not currently undertaking any work to raise awareness of kidney disease among Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities. However, local national health service organisations can undertake such campaigns should they wish to do so.
	The NHS Choices website contains detailed information on both black and Asian health issues, including a page on the increased risk these ethnic groups have of developing kidney disease. The page can be viewed at the following link:
	www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Kidneyhealth/Pages/BlackandAsiankidneyhealth.aspx
	We are identifying kidney disease earlier through the NHS Health Check. This programme identifies those aged between 40 and 74 at risk of cardiovascular diseases and helps them to reduce that risk. We anticipate that up to 20,000 cases of kidney disease and diabetes (a contributing factor) could be prevented through the programme.

Kidneys: Donors

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if his Department will assess the achievements of Kidney Research UK's Peer Educator model to support sign-up to the NHS Organ Donor Register in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities; and if his Department will take steps to support roll-out of Kidney Research UK's Peer Educator model across the UK.

Jane Ellison: The Department, as part of its support for the National Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Transplant Alliance, is funding Kidney Research UK to run a Peer Educator Project to raise awareness of the lack of donors and increase the numbers on the organ and bone marrow/stem cell registers within the Pakistani Muslim community in Birmingham. Subject to parliamentary business, the project will be officially launched by the Public Health Minister on 26 June 2014 and will build upon the success of an earlier Department funded Peer Educator project. The project will be fully evaluated and further lessons learned will be used to inform the roll-out of any future Peer Educator projects in other BAME locations across the country.

Motor Neurone Disease

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend pilot treatments for motor neurone disease; and what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved Administrations on those pilots.

Norman Lamb: The Department is not managing any pilot treatments for motor neurone disease (MND) and no recent discussions have taken place between the Department's Ministers and the devolved Administrations about pilots for MND.

Motor Vehicles: Smoking

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he will publish draft regulations on banning smoking in cars with children present.

Jane Ellison: Regulations for making it an offence to smoke in private vehicles carrying children are being drafted at present.

Out of Area Treatment: Scotland

Alan Beith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) arrangements and (b) contracts NHS England has for non-emergency specialist care and treatment of English residents in Scottish hospitals.

Jane Ellison: NHS England has a block contract (value £250,000 a year) for vein of Galen malformation services with the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.

Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women were admitted to hospital with ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in each of the last five years for which figures are available; how many adverse incidents were recorded in licensed clinics in that period; and what the severity grading of each such incident was.

Jane Ellison: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that the data it holds on these issues are as follows:
	
		
			  Total number of incidents reported Severity: Grade A Severity: Grade B Severity: Grade C Not an incident/near miss 
			 2009-10 497 7 308 146 36 
			 2010-11 586 1 292 255 38 
			 2011-12 571 3 206 308 54 
			 2012-13 503 0 183 261 59 
			 2013-14 506 4 203 255 44 
		
	
	Of these, the number of cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) reported to the authority is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of OHSS Moderate Severe 
			 2009-10 121 1 120 
			 2010-11 221 122 99 
			 2011-12 241 196 45 
			 2012-13 179 134 45 
			 2013-14 192 142 50 
		
	
	The HFEA has also advised that licensed fertility clinics are only required to report instances of OHSS to the authority that require a hospital admission with a severe grading, although in practice clinics often report moderate OHSS as well.

Prostate Cancer: Drugs

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons NICE has not recommended the treatment of abiraterone for use on the NHS; if he will place in the Library all correspondence NICE has received on the issue from (a) patient groups and (b) clinicians; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published technology appraisal guidance in June 2012 which recommends abiraterone (Zytiga) in its licensed indication for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic prostate cancer previously treated with a docetaxel-containing regimen, subject to a patient access scheme agreed between the Department and the drug’s manufacturer.
	NICE is currently appraising abiraterone for the treatment of metastatic hormone relapsed prostate cancer not previously treated with chemotherapy and has not yet published final guidance for the national health service. We understand that NICE has recently consulted on its draft guidance for this indication, which can be found at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/TAG/434/Consultation/Latest
	NHS commissioners are legally required to fund those treatments recommended by NICE in its technology appraisal guidance.
	In the absence of NICE technology appraisal guidance it is for the relevant NHS commissioner to make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence. The NHS Constitution states that patients have the right to expect local decisions on the funding of drugs and treatments ‘to be made rationally following a proper consideration of the evidence'.
	We understand that abiraterone as a first-line treatment is available through the Cancer Drugs Fund to NHS patients in England who could benefit from it.
	We are unable to provide copies of the correspondence requested in the time available; this information will be placed in the Library in due course.

Psoriasis

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with NHS trusts on the prescription of medicines for psoriasis.

Norman Lamb: We have had no such discussions.
	Information on the prescription of medicines for psoriasis is available from a range of sources including the British National Formulary, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and NHS Choices.

Shingles: Vaccination

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in the 70 to 79 age group have received a shingles vaccination since the vaccination programme began in September 2013; how many people he expects to take up the offer in the current cohort; when he expects that figure to be met; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Provisional vaccine uptake data for England show that about 360,000 70 to 79-year-olds received the shingles vaccine between 1 September 2013 and 30 April 2014. The actual number will be higher as about 20% of general practitioner (GP) practices are not able to automatically submit uptake information. If it is assumed that the non-reporting practices have similar uptake rates to those that have reported, then the estimated total number of people aged 70 to 79 years receiving the vaccine in the first eight months of the programme would be around 450,000.
	This is the first year of this immunisation programme and there is no formal target for the number to be vaccinated. Eligible patients aged 70 and 79 who have not yet received shingles vaccine during the 2013-14 programme will continue to be offered vaccination under the national programme until 31 August 2014. It is not possible to predict how many will take up the offer of vaccination in this period, but Public Health England expects vaccine uptake to continue to rise, and we would encourage those eligible individuals to contact their GP to arrange their vaccination if they have not already done so.
	Further provisional cumulative coverage data will be published on a quarterly basis, with the final annual coverage data for the 2013-14 programme due to be published in autumn 2014.

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not operate any telephone lines with the prefix 0843. The Department has one telephone line with prefix 0845 and no calls were made to this number in the last 12 months. There is no alternative number charged at BT local rates available. This number is only used by the internal Emergency Planning, Resilience and Response Team and is not available to members of the public.
	The Department has two telephone lines with prefix 0844 0844 892 0111 National Poisons Information Service and 0844 892 0909 UK Teratology Information Service. Both numbers are not in use for the general public. The number of calls made to these numbers in the last 12 months are 25,584 and 3,541 respectively. There are no alternative BT lines for these numbers.

Transplant Surgery

Andrew Bingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his policy is on allowing the transplant of organs from people deceased outside of hospital.

Jane Ellison: Organ donation following death outside of hospital is not broadly practiced in the United Kingdom. For organs to remain viable and suitable for transplantation, they must either be kept supplied with oxygen, blood and nutrients, or kept cold so that the metabolism of the cells is slowed right down. When someone's heart stops beating suddenly, the blood supply to organs stop and the cells begin to get starved of oxygen and nutrients and start to die. Therefore, there is a very narrow window of a few minutes between the heart stopping beating and the need for organs to be removed and preserved.
	A pilot programme is under way in Edinburgh for retrieval of organs from those who suffer a witnessed cardiac arrest from which they are unable to be resuscitated and are brought within minutes to the hospital. NHS Blood and Transplant is supporting this pilot and, depending on the outcome, will support further similar initiatives.
	Additionally, health care professionals need to obtain consent and get a full medical history to ensure the organs are suitable for transplantation.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Mental Health Services

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to help servicemen and women and veterans with psychological injuries; [R]
	(2)  what budget is available to help (a) active service personnel and (b) veterans with psychological injuries. [R]

Anna Soubry: We take the mental health of our personnel and veterans very seriously, and the Government have invested £7.4 million to improve the mental health services available and ensure help is available for everyone who needs it. The Government have implemented all of the recommendations of the ‘Fighting Fit' report, written by the now Minister for International Security Strategy, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison). These include:
	structured mental health assessments at routine and discharge medicals;
	access to military Departments of Community Mental Health for six months after discharge;
	tailored NHS mental health services;
	funding for the Combat Stress 24-hour Mental Health Helpline; and
	the introduction of the Big White Wall, providing mental health well-being services to serving personnel, their families and veterans.
	The Veterans Information Service makes contact with recent service leavers to make them aware of mental health and other support available in the community.
	For serving personnel, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) have introduced a range of measures to identify issues at the earliest possible opportunity. These include pre and post-deployment briefing and the availability of support, assessment and (if required) treatment, both during and after deployments, as well as peer-group mentoring through trauma risk management. Away from deployed operations, our mental health services are configured to provide community-based mental health care in line with national best practice, through both unit-based primary health centres and our network of 16 military Departments of Community Mental Health across the UK (plus centres overseas). In-patient care, when required, is available through a contract with a group of eight specialist NHS trusts across the UK. The DMS does not allocate a specific budget for mental health care, but provides appropriate care and treatment for all those who require it.

Armed Forces: Peterborough

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place a copy of 2014DIN05-013 on The Closure of Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit Peterborough in the Library.

Anna Soubry: I will place a copy in the Library of the House.
	Peterborough hospital is not a level 1 trauma hospital and thus can no longer offer Defence Medical Services personnel the required level of training.

Army Reserve

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what steps his Department takes to ensure that members of the Army Reserve who are injured receive appropriate support;
	(2)  what level of provision is available for injured members of the Army Reserve;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the level and quality of post-operational support provided to injured members of the (a) Regulars and (b) Army Reserves.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 364W, to the hon. Member for Stretford and Urmston (Kate Green).
	Reservists are treated exactly the same as regulars in terms of operational training and support while mobilised, including access to the same welfare support and medical treatment through the Defence Medical Services (DMS). They are retained in service and will receive treatment and rehabilitation until they are medically assessed as having reached a steady state of fitness, at which point they will be demobilised. If they have continuing health care needs following demobilisation, they will be taken through a transition from military to NHS care. Reservists who are medically discharged as a result of injuries sustained during deployment are also entitled to resettlement training and to the same range of services available to regular veterans. Where service is the only or main cause of injury or illness, members or former members of the reserve forces may qualify for awards under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS).
	The level and quality of post-operational support provided to injured mobilised reservists is exactly the same as that provided to regulars, with full access to all the facilities and expertise provided under the Army Recovery Capability, and it is a level of support of which the Army and the Ministry of Defence are extremely proud.
	Following the Future Reserves 2020 White Paper, which proposed improvements to occupational health provision to ensure consistent access to these services for all reservists, the MOD committed to extending DMS occupational health provision to non-mobilised reservists. Rehabilitation services are also being extended to members of the reserve forces who are injured during reserve training. This is in addition to the procedure in place since 2006, whereby reservists can obtain DMS mental health treatment through the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme. Implementation of the new measures started in April 2014.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason his Department did not provide an ICT hosting environment for Capita on time for the Recruiting Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: A number of factors contributed to the problems experienced with the information communication technology hosting environment provided for Capita. I refer the hon. Member to the response from the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), to an urgent question from the hon. Member for Gedling (Vernon Coaker), on 14 January 2014, Official Report, column 715.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what military or civilian personnel in his Department of what rank or grade have been reprimanded for failing to deliver an ICT hosting environment for Capita as part of the Recruiting Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: No personnel have been reprimanded in connection with the delivery of the Recruiting Partnering Project.
	An ICT hosting platform is being provided for Capita.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason the initial estimate of the additional costs of reverting to the fallback position of a hosting solution provided by Capita for the Recruiting Partnering Project increased from £47.7 million to £70 million; and who was responsible for these estimates.

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014, page 30, if he will provide a breakdown of the extra £70 million in costs that will be borne by his Department for the decision to revert to a hosting environment provided by Capita as part of the Recruiting Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: The Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) set out on 14 January 2014, Official Report, column 716, the cost of Capita providing a new information technology platform as part of the Recruiting Partnering Project. At the time, these costs were expected to be around £47.7 million directly linked to the change of hosting provision. Since this statement, the £47.7 million has reduced to £42.9 million.
	As previously stated by the Secretary of State on 14 January 2014, there has been an additional cost of around £1 million per month to run the Capita system. This includes costs for additional manpower.
	The Recruiting Partnering Project remains within the overall agreed cost of £1.360 billion.

Army: Recruitment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse to date is of the Recruiting Partnering Project.

Anna Soubry: The cost of the Recruiting Partnering Project to date (for the three years from March 2011 to 2014) is around £300 million. This figure includes the costs of the service provider, capita and costs to the Ministry of Defence such as military and civilian manpower, information communication technology provision and infrastructure.

Army: Recruitment

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the National Audit Office report, Army 2020, HC 263, published on 11 June 2014, page 25, if he will provide details of (a) the 167 implementation orders that his Department has already issued as part of the Army 2020 reforms and (b) any implementation orders which have yet to be issued.

Mark Francois: Implementation orders are used to communicate structural changes within the Army. As at June 2014, over 170 orders have been issued for Army 2020. The Ministry of Defence does not routinely publish details of internal military orders.

Army: Recruitment

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what preliminary tests his Department conducted to assess whether it was feasible to recruit and train the required number of reserves within the necessary timescale envisaged by the Army 2020 proposals.

Anna Soubry: Following the Strategic Defence and Security Review, a three-month exercise was undertaken which examined a range of force structure options building upon analysis undertaken during the review. These options were then tested for their efficacy against a wide range of scenarios. The options were then assessed by a senior judgment panel, chaired by the Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Included in this panel were the Assistant Chiefs of Staff for the Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force. The panel took decisions collectively and all members were fully involved and consulted.
	In July 2011 an Independent Commission to Review the UK’s Reserve Forces, chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier) and General Sir Nicholas Houghton, then set a target of 30,000 for a trained Army Reserve. This judgment was reached in the knowledge that the strength of the Territorial Army had been over 70,000 in the 1980s.
	Subsequent work was then undertaken to establish the time scales to build the trained strength of the Army Reserve to 30,000. This was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement and paper placed in the Library of the House by the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) on 19 December 2013, Official Report, column 124WS.

Defence: Expenditure

Bob Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether it remains his policy to meet the NATO target of spending 2% per cent of gross domestic product on defence; and what recent discussions (a) he and (b) Ministers in his Department have had with their NATO counterparts on this issue.

Andrew Murrison: The UK is one of just four NATO nations to spend 2% or more of gross domestic product on defence. On current plans, defence spending will continue to meet the 2% target for the current spending review period. Decisions on public spending after 2015-16 will be made in the next spending review.
	The question of defence spending by European NATO partners is regularly discussed at NATO defence ministerial meetings.

Defence: Procurement

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the near cash projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is for each year to 2018.

Philip Dunne: Projected spending on the Equipment Plan and Equipment Support Plan is detailed in the annual Defence Equipment Plan. The most recent edition was published on 12 February 2014.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/279440/defence_equipment_plan_2013.pdf

European Fighter Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse was of the visit of four RAF Typhoons to Edwards airforce base for interoperability trials with the Joint Strike Fighter; and what goals were (a) planned and (b) set in such training.

Philip Dunne: No Typhoon aircraft have been deployed to Edwards air force base.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what he expects to make the next main gate decision for the F-35.

Philip Dunne: The UK remains committed to the Joint Strike Fighter programme, and the next main gate investment decision will be made in due course. The UK has already taken delivery of three F-35B aircraft and has one aircraft currently in production. It remains on track to enter service in 2018.

Military Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what event or risk of event led to the approval of the Collision Warning System Technology Demonstrator Programme for fast jet aircraft; when that event was identified; and where that event is recorded.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 23 June 2014, Official Report, column 98W.

Nimrod Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the total cost of disposal of Nimrod MR4A associated material at RAF Kinloss.

Philip Dunne: The current net cost of removal of Nimrod MR4A material is £86,000. However, we expect the final net cost to be lower since some of the material removed from site has yet to be sold.

Nimrod Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost was of the Nimrod MR4A programme; and what payments were made to each company involved in the programme after 20 October 2012.

Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Sir Peter Luff), on 15 November 2011, Official Report, column 743W.
	The Nimrod MR4A aircraft programme was cancelled in November 2010, after only one aircraft was delivered which was subsequently grounded due to safety concerns.
	Available financial information has not identified payments relating to the programme to any company after 20 October 2012.

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

Anna Soubry: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 November 2013, Official Report, column 705W.
	The number of calls to each number for the period 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Telephone number prefix Operated by DFTS Sponsored by DFTS How many calls received in last 12 months 
			 0845 3 18 347,258 
			 0844 0 1 73 
			 0843 0 0 0

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Bankruptcy

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what support his Department has provided to companies facing bankruptcy in each of the last three years.

Jennifer Willott: The Department has a suite of business support packages available to companies whether or not they are facing an insolvency event.
	In exceptional circumstances the Department can work with companies in difficulty to help find solutions to their needs. Any such support is commercially sensitive and is normally a matter between the Department and the company.

Companies: Ownership

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the penalties will be for companies which fail to properly declare their beneficial ownership on the public register.

Jennifer Willott: The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill will make provision for the implementation of a central registry of company beneficial ownership information. The legislation will set out the penalties that apply to companies that fail to provide information, or provide false information, to Companies House. These will be based on, or extend, existing company law criminal offences.

Employment Agencies: Vetting

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent discussions he has had with employment agencies on the practice of blacklisting.

Jennifer Willott: Blacklisting is an unacceptable and illegal practice and we take any allegations of blacklisting very seriously. I have not had any discussions on the practice of blacklisting with employment agencies. We have referred the allegations made about an international recruitment agency to the Information Commissioner's Office which is looking into the matter.

Employment Agencies: Vetting

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the prevalence of blacklisting amongst employment agencies.

Jennifer Willott: Blacklisting is an unacceptable and illegal practice and we take any allegations of blacklisting very seriously. We have always encouraged anyone with evidence of blacklisting to come forward so that we can investigate. Any evidence of blacklisting should be referred to the Information Commissioner's Office. Individuals who believe they are being excluded from employment because of a blacklist should seek redress in the county courts in England and Wales, or Court of Session in Scotland.

Exports: Scotland

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the value of exports from businesses in (a) Glasgow North West constituency, (b) Glasgow and (c) Scotland to other EU member states in each of the last five years.

Michael Fallon: The value of goods exported by businesses in Scotland to other EU countries in each of the last five years is given in Table 1. Figures are not compiled for areas below Government office region (NUTS 1) level, such as Glasgow and Glasgow North West.
	These figures relate to exports of goods only. Regional data on exports of services are not available.
	
		
			 Table 1: Value of Scottish exports of goods to EU countries, 2009-13 
			 £ million 
			  2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 
			 Austria 53 58 80 63 47 
			 Belgium 1,371 979 879 904 727 
			 Bulgaria 46 31 30 22 25 
			 Croatia 10 11 9 9 9 
			 Cyprus 24 25 23 23 19 
			 Czech Republic 93 110 125 125 106 
			 Denmark 336 290 164 179 182 
			 Estonia 102 94 81 50 29 
			 Finland 113 81 74 81 53 
			 France 1,301 1,442 1,517 1,415 1,286 
			 Germany 1,258 1,229 1,275 1,209 1,041 
			 Greece 70 83 109 141 175 
			 Hungary 75 66 67 66 45 
			 Irish Republic 502 521 594 586 481 
			 Italy 416 428 616 470 419 
			 Latvia 194 97 65 37 18 
			 Lithuania 14 11 12 11 9 
			 Luxembourg 16 10 8 9 6 
			 Malta 18 12 11 11 8 
			 Netherlands 1,268 1,308 1,084 1,516 1,393 
			 Poland 200 182 213 175 146 
			 Portugal 97 116 157 149 109 
			 Romania 55 50 53 46 35 
			 Slovakia 18 12 15 11 11 
			 Slovenia 8 10 10 12 9 
			 Spain 685 623 808 772 733 
			 Sweden 371 269 250 230 163 
			 EU28 8,714 8,149 8,328 8,322 7,283 
			 Source: HMRC Regional Trade Statistics, interactive database https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/RTS/Pages/default.aspx

Exports: Syria

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether export licences to Syria have been granted for the period since 1 July 2012; and if he will describe any such material so exported.

Michael Fallon: Five standard individual export licences (SIELs) and one open individual export licence (OIEL) have been granted.
	The information provided relates to goods or services that have been licensed for export. The licences were granted to international and humanitarian organisations to support and protect staff working in these organisations. The six licences granted authorise export of the following:
	SIEL for: components for body armour;
	SIEL for: NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) protective/defensive equipment;
	SIEL for: body armour, components for body armour, military helmets;
	SIEL for: body armour, military helmets;
	SIEL for: components for all-wheel drive vehicles with ballistic protection;
	OIEL for: cryptographic software; equipment employing cryptography.
	The licences were granted to international and humanitarian organisations to support and protect staff working in these organisations.

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many inspections each local authority has carried out to ensure compliance with the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: The data in the detail requested are not held centrally. The total number of inspections carried out by local authority trading standards across all products, which would include those for furniture and furnishings, was 9,674 in 2011.

Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many prosecutions there have been for breaches of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 in each of the last three years.

Michael Fallon: The data requested are not held centrally.

Royal Mail

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, column 782W, on Royal Mail, what link was established in the engagement letter between the payment of the discretionary fee and the ending of the stabilisation period; and what targets or deadlines were set in the letter.

Michael Fallon: The engagement letter between the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the syndicate of banks involved in the initial public offering indicated that the payment of the discretionary fee would be determined 10 days after the end of the stabilisation period and paid five days after that.
	As I said in my previous answer (1 May 2014, Official Report, column 782W), we informed the banks that a decision would not be taken in the time frame set out in the engagement letter given the volatility of the Royal Mail share price after the IPO. The share price remains volatile.
	We have not set any timetable for the decision.

Royal Mail: Scotland

Jim Sheridan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what estimate he has made of the proportion of Royal Mail staff who bought shares in the newly-privatised company in (a) Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, (b) Renfrewshire and (c) Scotland.

Michael Fallon: The Government have not made any estimates by constituency, county or country of shares bought by Royal Mail staff.
	As part of the Royal Mail Initial Public Offering, each eligible employee has now received 729 shares free of charge. Only 372 of the 147,000 eligible employees opted out of the scheme. Approximately 99.75% of employees accepted the shares that we offered them. Under the Employee Priority Retail Offer, over 15,000 employees (just over 10%) bought additional shares in Royal Mail.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of outstanding child maintenance arrears currently owed by non-resident parents with a weekly assessment value set at zero are owed (a) by non-resident parents with a current nil liability but at least one child of qualifying age and (b) by non-resident parents with a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn, or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The Child Support Agency (CSA) administers the 1993 and 2003 Statutory Child Maintenance Schemes in Great Britain.
	The proportion of outstanding arrears owed by non-resident parents with no assessment value makes up 72.9% of the total value of arrears.
	The following table is the proportion of outstanding arrears owed by non-resident parents with no assessment value, broken down into cases in which the non-resident parent has either a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age (No current liability) or a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case (No ongoing liability). Data are as at March 2014:
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Proportion of Arrears 
			  (a) No Current Liability (b) No Ongoing Liability 
			 Scotland 1.2 6.8 
			 England 11.2 69.2 
			 Wales 0.7 4.3 
			 Northern Ireland1 0.0 0.2 
			 Other2 0.0 6.3 
			 Overall 13.2 86.8 
			 1 Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED). 2 Cases included in the ‘Other’ category are cases where either the Parent with Care has moved abroad, or where the area of the Parent with Care is Unknown. Note: Proportion of Arrears are based on the overall amount of arrears owed by cases with no assessment value in the Outstanding Arrears tables on page’s 36 and 37 of the: Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many Child Support Agency cases there are (a) non-resident parents with a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age and (b) non-resident parents with a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The Child Support Agency (CSA) administers the 1993 and 2003 Statutory Child Maintenance Schemes in Great Britain.
	Of the total CSA case load, the number of cases in which the non-resident parent has either a nil liability at present but at least one child of qualifying age (No Current Liability) or a zero assessment because a case has been cancelled or withdrawn or there are no children of qualifying age remaining on the case (No Ongoing Liability) is shown in the table below, as at March 2014:
	
		
			  (a) No Current Liability (b) No Ongoing Liability 
			 Scotland 32,200 88,200 
			 England 287,300 822,100 
			 Wales 22,200 61,000 
			 Northern Ireland1 900 1,900 
			 Other2 1,200 186,400 
			 Overall 343,800 1,159,500 
			 1 Northern Ireland cases include cases managed by the CSA in Great Britain where the Parent with Care lives in Northern Ireland. This does not include cases managed by the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance Enforcement Division (CMED). 2 Cases included in the ‘Other’ category are cases where either the Parent with Care has moved abroad, or where the area of the Parent with Care is Unknown. Notes: 1. Figures rounded to the nearest 100. Breakdowns may not sum to overall figures due to rounding. 2. Figures are broken down from the No Liability cases published on page 58 of the Child Support Agency Quarterly Summary of Statistics.

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of the total Child Support Agency arrears owed to parents with care is regarded as (a) potentially collectable and (b) likely to be collected in the next three years in (i) Scotland, (ii) England, (iii) Wales and (iv) Northern Ireland.

Steve Webb: The proportion of child maintenance arrears owed to parents with care that is potentially collectable and likely to be collected is shown in the following table, as at March 2013.
	Northern Ireland does not fall within the jurisdiction of the Great Britain Child Support Agency.
	Collectability analysis looks at the likelihood of arrears being collected and does not include a time frame for collections.
	
		
			 Percentage 
			  Total potentially or likely to be collected Potentially collectable Likely collectable 
			 Scotland 26 13 13 
			 England 25 12 13 
			 Wales 26 13 13 
			 Notes: 1. Geographical breakdowns are based on the location of the non-resident parent in each case. 2. Collectability breakdowns as published in the Client Fund Accounts include an estimate for collections from future legal activity. As this has not yet occurred then it cannot be allocated to geographical areas so is not included in the figures above. 3. Proportions have been calculated using CS2 and CSCS cases only and excludes cases administered off system.

Children: Maintenance

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what timetable he has set for the closure of Child Support Agency cases which do not form part of the agency's current live caseload;
	(2)  what arrears validation processes are carried out on Child Support Agency cases which do not form part of the caseload before those arrears are transferred to the Child Maintenance Service for collection.

Steve Webb: The Department is prioritising the closure over the next three years of cases with an ongoing child maintenance liability, and taking steps to minimise disruption as far as possible for parents who wish the statutory service to continue collecting maintenance on their behalf. Plans for handling cases where there is no ongoing liability, but arrears are owed, are still under consideration. Where there is a link between one of these arrears only cases, and an application to the 2012 scheme, action will be taken to bring that arrears only case up-to-date, before moving it across to the Child Maintenance Service.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many calls the Child Maintenance Options Service received in each month in the last year.

Steve Webb: The number of successful inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service in each month of the last year is available in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service 
			 2013  
			 May 7,845 
			 June 8,915 
		
	
	
		
			 July 110,360 
			 August 11,990 
			 September 13,835 
			 October 14,835 
			 November 221,375 
			 December 22,760 
			   
			 2014  
			 January 26,515 
			 February 25,875 
			 March 26,865 
			 April 24,565 
			 1 Child Maintenance Options started providing a ‘soft gateway’ to the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme, offering parents applying to the 2012 scheme the opportunity to explore the full range of options before making an application, including considering making their own arrangements. 2 Child Maintenance Options became the automatic ‘gateway’ to the statutory 2012 child maintenance scheme, ensuring all parents who wish to access the 2012 scheme are making a fully informed decision and have considered making their own arrangements first. Notes: 1. Data sourced from CMO Monthly MI Service Pack. 2. Data rounded to nearest 5.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what contingency arrangements have been put in place by the Department's Child Maintenance Group to ensure that the Child Maintenance Options Service answers all calls promptly and there is a good service; and how often those contingency arrangements were invoked in the last year.

Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance Options service has an effective business continuity plan in place, which includes the ability to divert calls to other trained colleagues and deploy a variety of telephony-based solutions such as interactive voice response.
	There were around eight occasions in which contingency measures had to be used in the last year for reasons including brief local power outages, activation of the fire alarm system and occasions where call demands exceeded forecasted volumes.
	Steps have been taken to prevent or minimise any reoccurrence of these events, including the installation of an uninterrupted power supply and better forecasting as we fully establish the impact of recent changes such as the use of child maintenance options as a mandatory gateway to the statutory scheme.

Children: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in how many cases child support arrears have been written off under the Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012 since November 2012; and how much has been written off in such a fashion.

Steve Webb: The circumstances, provided for in “The Child Support Management of Payments and Arrears (Amendment) Regulations 2012”, in which debt can be written off are:
	Where the parent with care (PWC) requests it;
	Where the non-resident parent (NRP) has died prior to 25 January 2010, or no further action can be taken to recover debt from the estate;
	Where the PWC has died;
	Where there is interim maintenance assessment (IMA) debt and the IMA was in place between 5 April 1993 and 18 April 1995, and the assessment cannot be adjusted in light of a parent’s actual income for this form of debt when it arises over that period; or,
	Where the NRP has been told that no further action would ever be taken to collect the debt.
	Since the introduction of the write off powers in November 2012 the Department has written off the following amounts:
	Financial year ended 31 March 2013 £1,133,310
	Financial year ended 31 March 2014 £15,480,677
	The Department does not hold information on the number of cases this relates to.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library and publish the tender and bid for the Child Maintenance Options contract.

Steve Webb: Contract documents for the Child Maintenance Options contract are published on the Contracts Finder website. These documents include the contract itself, the requirements issued to bidders and the successful bidder’s response. Contracts Finder is a publicly accessible website where contract documents are published in order to meet Government transparency commitments. The specific link to this contract is:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&noticeid=1072427&fs =true

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government will receive from deductions of charges and from charges for enforcement action in child maintenance cases under the Child Maintenance Options contract; and what profit will be made by G4S in running this contract.

Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance Options service offers information and support to help separating and separated parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. The service has operated under contract to the Department since 2008, most recently by G4S.
	Once client charges are introduced they will be applied by the Department only once a client is within, or applies to, the 2012 scheme run by the Child Maintenance Service, which is part of the Department for Work and Pensions. Charging does not in any way form part of the Child Maintenance Options contract.
	Details of the Child Maintenance Options contract can be viewed at:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&noticeid=1072427&fs =true
	The level of profit that a supplier makes through a commercial contract cannot be disclosed as this action would be prejudicial to the supplier’s commercial interests.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost of (a) the tender and bid process for the Child Maintenance Options contract, (b) his Department assisting G4S to fulfil the contract, (c) his Department's in-house option for continued delivery before it was contracted out and (d) bringing the work back in-house should the G4S contract be terminated early.

Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance Options service was introduced in July 2008 to provide information and support to help separating parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. As with all previous tender and bid processes for this work, the cost of the tender is within the Department’s budget.
	The most recent Child Maintenance Options contract is available to view at:
	https://online.contractsfinder.businesslink.gov.uk/Common/View%20Notice.aspx?site=1000&lang=en&noticeid=1072427&fs=true
	However, to identify specific costs associated with this contract would incur a disproportionate cost.
	The Department did not assist G4S to fulfil the contract. It is part of planned business continuity arrangements to use colleagues from the Department in order to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels.
	Since the service was introduced in 2008 it has always been contracted out. There are no plans to bring the service in-house, and to calculate the cost of doing so would be to provide new information at disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons the G4S contract to provide the Child Maintenance Options programme was underestimated; for what reasons staff in his Department were assisting G4S with its work on this programme; and if he will consider transferring G4S staff under TUPE regulations to his Department.

Steve Webb: Call forecasting volumes used as part of a re-tendering exercise for delivery of the Child Maintenance Options service were based on historic call volume data. From November 2013, Child Maintenance Options became the mandatory gateway for all new applicants to the statutory scheme, which led to an incremental increase in demand.
	This, among other recent changes, added an increased level of uncertainty into forecasting call volumes, in anticipation of which the Department has in place planned and agreed business continuity arrangements with the supplier. This includes the use of colleagues from the Department in order to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels.
	This service was introduced in 2008 and has never been delivered in-house, and there are no plans to do so. Therefore, the transferring of staff under TUPE regulations is not applicable.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department have been asked to assist G4S in the delivery of the new Child Maintenance Options scheme to date; how many more staff G4S estimates will be needed to administer this contract when peak levels of applications are reached; and how much in staffing costs his Department is liable to pay as a result.

Steve Webb: The Child Maintenance Options service is not a new service and was introduced in 2008. It offers information and support to help separating and separated parents make an informed choice about their child maintenance arrangement. It is not a child maintenance scheme.
	The Department has in place planned and agreed business continuity arrangements with its supplier. This includes utilising the Department's staff to take some calls where volumes exceed contracted levels. Over the past nine months the Department has used anything from 5 to 20 people for periods ranging from minutes to hours.
	The child maintenance reform programme includes ending liabilities on Child Support Agency cases in the 1993 and 2003 schemes over the next three years and it is too early to accurately predict when peak call volumes into Child Maintenance Options will be reached. Child Maintenance Options calculates resource requirements based on forecast volumes provided by the Department on a rolling three month basis. The number of staff Child Maintenance Options employs will increase in line with these forecasts over the next three years before returning to more normal levels when the reforms have completed. The associated costs are reflected in the contract.

Children: Maintenance

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Government expect to receive from (a) the 20 per cent deduction from the child maintenance payment of the paying parent and (b) the four per cent deduction of total payment of support to the child from the receiving parent.

Steve Webb: Paragraph 106 of the CSA Case Closure, Introducing CMS Fees, Supporting Family Based Arrangements Impact Assessment gives an estimate of the total income by year raised through the parent with care fee and the non-resident parent fee. This impact assessment, published on 22 November 2013, is available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/259694/cm-case-closure-and-charges-regs-ia-final.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he last reviewed the level of income disregard threshold for employment and support allowance.

Esther McVey: The occupational pension income threshold for employment and support allowance was last reviewed as part of the 2014-15 annual uprating exercise. It was decided that no change would be made.

Employment Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, columns 813-4W, on social security benefits, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the community work placement and mandatory intervention regime schemes. [R]

Esther McVey: The costs of Help to Work, which includes community work placement and the mandatory intervention regime, is:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2014-15 190 
			 2015-16 230 
		
	
	This information is publicly available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263942/35062_Autumn_Statement_2013.pdf

Employment Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 1 May 2014, Official Report, columns 813-4W, on social security benefits, what estimate he has made of the annual savings from the fewer days on benefits for participants in the community work placement and mandatory intervention regime schemes. [R]

Esther McVey: The estimated benefit savings from Help to Work, which includes community work placement and the mandatory intervention regime, is £25 million in 2013-14, £130 million in 2014-15 and £140 million in 2015-16.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2013-14 25 
			 2014-15 130 
			 2015-16 140 
		
	
	This information is publicly available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/263942/35062_Autumn_Statement_2013.pdf

Employment: Private Sector

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of recent trends in employment in the private sector.

Esther McVey: There are more people in private sector jobs than ever before, up over 2 million since 2010.

Independent Living Fund

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost to the NHS of the closure of the Independent Living Fund.

Michael Penning: The ILF currently makes direct cash payment. These are not intended to pay for health care or to replace services already provided by the NHS.

Independent Living Fund

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the proportion of Independent Living Fund recipients who will have their care and support budget (a) maintained and (b) decreased when the Fund closes;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of how many Independent Living Fund recipients will have to give up work as a result of the Fund's closure.

Michael Penning: The potential implications of closing the Independent Living Fund are set out clearly in the Equality Analysis that was published on 6 March alongside the written ministerial statement announcing the closure.

Independent Living Fund: Birmingham

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) how many disabled people in Birmingham, Hall Green constituency will be affected by the closure of the Independent Living Fund and (b) how many of their personal assistants will lose their jobs because of the Fund's closure.

Michael Penning: The information is as follows:
	(a) The Independent Living Fund records data by postcode or local authority rather than by constituency and therefore, does not hold the information in the format requested. As of March 2014 there are 283 ILF recipients the area covered by Birmingham city council.
	The ILF publishes data by local authority quarterly via gov.uk:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-living-fund-user-profile-analysis-march-2014
	(b) The potential implications of closing the Independent Living Fund are set out clearly in the Equality Analysis that was published on 6 March alongside the written ministerial statement announcing the closure.
	As previously announced in the 2013 spending review, local authorities and the devolved Administrations will be fully funded to meet their additional responsibilities towards former ILF users in 2015-16.

Jobcentre Plus

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the additional costs to claimants living in rural communities of travel to attend jobcentre interviews for (a) fortnightly signing and (b) other interviews and advisory meetings.

Esther McVey: The Department has not made an estimate regarding the additional costs for claimants living in rural communities. Providing such an estimate would require the DWP to differentiate the costs to rural claimants from those elsewhere. This can be done only at disproportionate cost to the Department. However, the Department does have some flexibility to meet the needs of those living in rural areas: for example, postal signing can be offered and claimants attending interviews on days outside their normal day of attendance can have their travelling expenses reimbursed. Additionally, Work Coaches are also able to use the Flexible Support Fund and issue Travel Discount Cards to help claimants with travel expenses.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether jobseekers must declare casual income earned during a sanction period once their jobseeker's allowance claim is resumed; and whether that amount is then deducted from subsequent benefit payments.

Esther McVey: When a jobseeker's allowance claimant is subject to a sanction, the award continues even if no actual payments are being made. As such the claimant should continue to notify changes of circumstances, including casual work. The normal JSA rules apply, whereby if the hours worked exceed 16 hours or the earnings are higher than the rate of jobseeker's allowance, the award will end.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of jobseeker's allowance claimants had uninterrupted work records of (a) two years and (b) five years at the start of their claim.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Legal Opinion

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on external legal advice in each of the last three years.

Michael Penning: DWP spent the following amounts with Legal Services:
	2013-14—£7,697,576
	2012-13—£10,868,697
	2011-12—£16,109,586

Maternity Allowance

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many women received maternity allowance in the last year for which figures are available; what the average length of time they received it for was; and what the total cost to the public purse was.

Steve Webb: The information we have for the number receiving Maternity Allowance and the average duration is published each quarter and is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/maternity-allowance-quarterly-statistics
	The cost to the public purse for Great Britain in 2012/13 was £395 million in nominal terms consistent with expenditure tables published here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-expenditure-tables

National Insurance: Asylum

Andrew McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that asylum seekers are able to receive a national insurance number without unnecessary delay.

Esther McVey: For those granted leave to remain as a result of a successful asylum claim, a joint fast track national insurance number application process operates between DWP and the Home Office.

Nurseries

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) staff in his Department and (b) members of the public who use his Department’s on-site nurseries.

Michael Penning: The number of DWP families who use the on site nurseries was provided in my answer of 10 April 2014, Official Report, columns 320-21W, to the hon. Member for Manchester Central (Lucy Powell).
	37 members of the public use the Department’s on- site nurseries.

Nurseries

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many of his Department's Child Maintenance Group on-site nurseries are due to close from September 2014; and what the location of each such nursery is.

Steve Webb: Five Child Maintenance Group on-site nurseries are due to close on expiry of the contract at the end of September 2014. They are located at offices in Birkenhead, Dudley, Falkirk, Hastings and Plymouth.
	Child Maintenance Group child care subsidy was made no longer available to new entrants from 1 June 2012. This brings Child Maintenance Group into line with the Department’s policy on child care subsidy.
	As part of its remuneration package, the Department supports employees through a salary sacrifice scheme where employees can give up part of their salary in return for child care vouchers. This scheme allows for significant savings through tax relief and gives parents support in order to make their own choices for child care.
	Employees affected by the closure of the five on-site nurseries have been offered a day’s special leave in order to look for suitable alternatives.

Nurseries

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of (a) the number and (b) the cost of staff redundancies resulting from the closure of his Department’s on-site nurseries from September 2014.

Michael Penning: DWP has no staff redundancies as a result of the nursery closures and no associated costs.

Personal Independence Payment

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure that personal independence payment applicants do not suffer financial hardship due to delays deciding their claims.

Michael Penning: Claimants already in receipt of disability living allowance will continue to receive it while their personal independence payment (PIP) claim is being assessed. Most claimants to PIP will already be receiving some element of financial support, for example through earnings or through receipt of other benefits such as employment and support allowance. No successful new claimant to PIP will lose out financially as claims will be backdated.

Personal Independence Payment

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve the personal independence claims and decision-making process.

Michael Penning: We are committed to driving up PIP performance, and I am in regular contact with providers to do this—as you would expect. Unlike DLA, PIP involves a face to face consultation for most applicants. Around 80% of claimants will see a health professional instead of around 6% of DLA.
	We acknowledge that claims are currently taking too long and we have taken steps to improve performance. So far we have introduced:
	A dedicated phone service;
	An electronic transfer of information between claimant’s health professional, DWP and assessment providers.
	A new process to enable SRTI decisions to be made in-house with support from health care professionals.
	A streamlined Assessment Report form.

Personal Independence Payment

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimates his Department has made of how many people previously on disability living allowance have had their claim for personal independence payments refused.

Michael Penning: The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on reassessment claims to PIP in due course.

Personal Independence Payment: Glasgow

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects the claim by E. Stewart of Christchurch, ref POS(5)10870/552, for a personal independence payment which was received by the Glasgow benefit office on 2 October 2013 to be determined; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: Further to my letter of 4 June Ms E Stewart's assessment was completed on 16 June and a decision made on 23 June. Ms Stewart will be notified of this decision on 24 June.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department has spent assisting people with the costs of (a) travel to interview and (b) clothing for interviews or to commence work in each year since 2005.

Esther McVey: The information requested is only available from 2007. (a) The costs of assisting people travel to job interviews for each year from 2007 are:
	
		
			 £ 
			  Travel to interview scheme Flexible Support Fund—Travel expenses to job interview 
			 2007-08 2,197,120 — 
			 2008/09 3,054,761 — 
			 2009-10 6,483,974 — 
			 2010-11 5,670,713 — 
			 2011-12 — 4,252,586 
			 2012-13 — 3,938,200 
			 2013-14 — 6,341,486 
		
	
	(b) Expenditure for equipment to assist people taking up work, including clothing, for each year from 2007 is in the following table. This expenditure also includes assistance with other equipment e.g. health and safety related workwear, work tools and equipment, bicycles and accessories, laptops and mobile phones.
	
		
			 £ 
			  Adviser Discretion Fund—other payments to clients Flexible Support Fund—equipment to start work 
			 2007-08 12,022,050 — 
			 2008-09 15,368,335 — 
			 2009-10 24,311,277 — 
			 2010-11 12,258,175 — 
			 2011-12 — 10,736,356 
			 2012-13 — 20,352,052 
			 2013-14 — 16,998,515 
		
	
	Expenditure totals are not available solely for clothing and would incur disproportionate cost to identify separately.

Social Security Benefits

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the saving was to the public purse from the reduction of (a) employment and support allowance and (b) incapacity benefit for individuals in receipt of a pension income of more than £85 per week in 2013-14.

Esther McVey: The information is not available as no such estimate has been undertaken.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the date of the oldest outstanding claim for (a) jobseeker’s allowance and (b) employment and support allowance at each Jobcentre Plus office in the UK.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Asylum

Andrew McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to ensure that asylum seekers receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

Esther McVey: Asylum seekers are normally excluded from claiming most benefits.
	Those who cannot claim benefits receive support provided by Asylum Support, a part of the Home Office that deals with accommodating and supporting asylum seekers and their dependants.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claiming universal credit were (a) unemployed and (b) self-employed in the most recent period for which information is available.

Esther McVey: The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on universal credit (UC) in September 2013 which can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
	Statistics will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Universal Credit

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has given to the tribunals service of how many appeals will be brought by universal credit claimants in each of the next five years.

Esther McVey: We announced our plans for the implementation of universal credit on 5 December, and these were set out in a written ministerial statement of 5 December 2013, Official Report,column 65WS. The WMS can be found here:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131205/wmstext/131205m0001.htm#13120551000006
	Official statistics on universal credit were most recently published on 14th May and can be found at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics
	Our estimates of the number of appeals will depend on the details of the migration schedule which will be determined in due course.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of partners in small businesses who will apply for universal credit; and what steps such people need to take to establish their monthly income in order to do so.

Esther McVey: We have not produced estimates of the numbers of partners in small businesses who will apply for universal credit.
	Guidance on self-employment issued for universal credit decision makers can be found in the Advice for Decision Makers, which is available online at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advice-for-decision-making-staff

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to merge the two IT systems being developed by his Department to deliver universal credit; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: There is one single plan for a universal credit online service. The current live service is already offering more online services than ever before, with stronger work incentives to get people back into work, and this week we started its expansion across the North West of England. The enhanced digital system is an extension of the current online services and will integrate work and benefits activity, making best use of technology.

Work Capability Assessment

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make it his policy that reminders should be sent by text or other telephonic means informing people of the date, time and location of their upcoming work capability assessments.

Michael Penning: The Department is keen that claimants are encouraged to attend their work capability assessments, however any adjustments to the process which involve the means described would be subject to commercial and operational considerations. As such I am unable to commit to making this departmental policy.

JUSTICE

Children: Advocacy

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many registered intermediaries are available for use by child victims and witnesses in (a) Bolton, (b) Lancashire, (c) England, (d) Scotland and (e) Wales;
	(2)  how many child victims and witnesses involved in sexual abuse cases have been given access to and use of a Registered Intermediary in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what plans his Department has to increase the number of Registered Intermediaries available for use by child victims and witnesses of sexual abuse; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: As at 19 June 2014, 29 Registered Intermediaries (RIs) were available for use by child victims and witnesses in the Greater Manchester police force area that covers Bolton, 25 RIs for Lancashire, 81 RIs for England and 26 RIs for Wales. Support for vulnerable witnesses is a devolved matter in Scotland.
	We recruited over 25 RIs this year, to increase the numbers of Active Registered Intermediaries to be used across the 43 police forces to help vulnerable witnesses.
	Registered Intermediaries are available for work across multiple police force areas and the numbers quoted above do not reveal the total number of active RIs.
	The number of child victims and witnesses involved in sexual abuse cases that have benefitted from the use of an RI in the last four years since the Witness Intermediary Scheme has been operational are provided in the following table. We do not hold data on cases before this time.
	
		
			  Age 0 to 4 Age 5 to 11 Age 12 to 17 Yearly total 
			 2010 — 131 152 351 
			 2011 62 107 171 340 
			 2012 87 173 165 425 
			 2013 168 257 261 686 
			 Total 385 668 749 1,802 
		
	
	The Ministry of Justice continues to monitor the number of Registered Intermediaries and is considering future recruitment plans. We are working with the CPS and police so that RIs are used to help more vulnerable witnesses to give their best evidence.

Claims Management Services

David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  on what earliest date a still unresolved investigation by the Claims Management Regulation Unit under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 was begun; and on what earliest date such an investigation was begun but no proceedings have yet commenced;
	(2)  what average period of time is taken between the date of the opening of an investigation under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006 and the date on which (a) proceedings are commenced and (b) the case is closed without proceedings being brought;
	(3)  how many investigations are being carried out by the Claims Management Regulation Unit under regulation 35 of the Compensation (Claims Management Services) Regulations 2006.

Shailesh Vara: The CMR Unit aims to conduct all investigations in a proportionate and efficient manner. This means determining as quickly as possible whether a CMC under investigation is in breach of the conditions of its authorisation. If following an investigation it is clear that those conditions have been breached and there is a public protection issue, any proposed enforcement action will be expedited.
	(1) 6 June 2013 was the earliest date from when the Claims Management Regulation (CMR) Unit began an investigation under regulation 35, which remains unresolved but no enforcement proceedings have yet commenced.
	(2) Information is available for the period, 12 months to 18 June 2014. The CMR Unit conducted 46 investigations under regulation 35, which took an average of five months, 21 days before enforcement proceedings were taken, and an average of two months, eight days before being closed without the requirement for enforcement proceedings.
	(3) As at 18 June 2014, the CMR Unit was investigating 24 CMCs under regulation 35.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how he plans to allocate National Probation Service staff to new community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: On 1 June, as part of our ongoing Transforming Rehabilitation Programme of reform, the new National Probation Service (NPS) and Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) formally commenced operation. All probation staff were allocated to either the NPS or CRC and many have been working in their new teams since April.
	The probation work force was allocated to the new organisations in line with future capacity needs. This was calculated on the basis of existing staffing needs for the different operational functions. The process was based on an objective consideration of the future functions and offender groups that each organisation will be responsible for.
	There are no plans to allocate NPS staff to CRCs. However to help ensure effective working relationships between the bodies, we are in favour of an arrangement that would facilitate interchange between the NPS and CRCs where it was in the interests of both employers.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what recent discussions he has had on tendering for contracts to run community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: The tendering process is being run in accordance with standard Government procurement practice. Ministers are being kept updated on progress and throughout the programme have engaged in discussions with a wide range of stakeholders. Bids to run the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) are expected in June 2014 and the contract winners for each Community Rehabilitation Company will be announced by the end of 2014.

Community Rehabilitation Companies

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  whether community rehabilitation companies have access to National Probation Service case records;
	(2)  whether the National Probation Service will have access to case records of community rehabilitation companies.

Jeremy Wright: Staff in the National Probation Service (NPS) and the Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) have, and will continue to have, necessary access to each other's case records. NPS staff are able to read all CRC records and update any case they are working on. CRC staff will be able to see and update records that relate to offenders they are working with.

Courts: Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the treatment of child victims and witnesses within the courts system;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the provisions available to support child victims and witnesses within the courts system; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Green: We do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice. We are piloting recorded pre-trial cross-examination, allowing vulnerable witnesses for the first time to give evidence in advance of trial.
	In ‘Transforming the Criminal Justice System: Strategy and Action Plan’ (June 2013)', the Ministry of Justice committed to improving the consistency and take-up of special measures for vulnerable and intimidated victims and witnesses, such as the use of live-link, screens in court and the use of an intermediary (communication specialist). We are working with other criminal justice agencies to deliver this.
	Child victims and witnesses are automatically eligible for special measures when giving evidence in court. The presumption in most cases is that they should give their evidence by video-recorded statement, and that any subsequent cross-examination is conducted by live-link with a supporter present who has been approved by the court.
	The pre-trial cross-examination pilot ends in October 2014 and the evaluation of the pilot will inform plans for any future rollout of the measure.

Courts: Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has received from (a) charities, (b) hon. Members and (c) other individuals on the provisions available to support child victims and witnesses.

Damian Green: My Department from time to time receives representations about provisions to support child victims and witnesses. In recent months, my officials have held discussions with NSPCC and Barnardo's on the subject, and a number of hon. Members and members of the public have written to Ministers.

Courts: Children

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many child victims and witnesses have given evidence from inside a court building in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many child victims and witnesses have given evidence from a remote site in each of the last five years;
	(3)  how many remote sites are available and in use by child victims and witnesses in (a) each region of England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland.

Damian Green: We must do everything we can to support child witnesses and help them give their best possible evidence to bring offenders to justice.
	The Department does not hold data on the number of child victim and witnesses that use video links to give evidence (either a court building, or from a remote site).
	The following table sets out the number of courthouses in each of the seven HMCTS regions in England and Wales; criminal justice is a devolved matter for Scotland and Northern Ireland. These facilities enable any victim or witness to appear by video link from a different court location to that of the trial court; it is also possible for third party users to access the court system through a secure bridge.
	
		
			 HMCTS region Number of courthouses enabled for remote video link. 
			 Wales 22 
			 London 32 
			 South East 52 
			 South West 35 
			 Midlands 40 
			 North West 31 
			 North East 37 
			 Total 249

Employment Tribunals Service

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will initiate an independent audit of his Department’s employment tribunal statistics.

Shailesh Vara: The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly official statistics on the tribunals which come under it, including employment tribunals. These are produced by statisticians in the Analytical Services Division using data produced by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. There are no plans for a review of the statistics at this time.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what meetings he and his Ministers have had with the Chief Inspector of Prisons; when each such meeting took place; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

Jeremy Wright: The ministerial team and senior officials are in regular dialogue with the Chief Inspector of Prisons. This includes but is not limited to the meetings set out as follows.
	The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) met with the Chief Inspector on 29 October 2012 and 29 October 2013.
	The Secretary of State and I are due to see the Chief Inspector on 24 June 2014.
	In addition, I met with the Chief Inspector on 24 October 2012, 28 January 2013, 11 June 2013, 3 September 2013, 10 December 2013, and 10 March 2014. I also attended a prison inspection, with the Chief Inspector on 1 May 2013.
	The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice, the right hon. Member for Bermondsey and Old Southwark (Simon Hughes) met with the Chief Inspector on 24 March 2014 and 18 June 2014.
	A range of issues relevant to the Chief Inspector’s responsibilities have been discussed at these meetings.

Human Trafficking

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted for, (b) convicted of, (c) cautioned for and (d) given a non-custodial sentence for human trafficking offences in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: Severe maximum penalties are available for serious offences. Where an offender is prosecuted and convicted, sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include the seriousness of the offence, including all aggravating and mitigating factors, and a guilty plea.
	Since 2010, crime has continued to fall. At the same time offenders are more likely to be sent to prison and for longer.
	The number of offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts for offences related to human trafficking, in England and Wales, from 2008 to 2013, can be viewed in the table.
	
		
			 Offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for 'human trafficking' offences,1 England and Wales, 2008 to 20132, 3, 4 
			 Outcome 20085 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 
			 Cautions 2 — — 1 — — 
			 Proceeded against 61 47 30 21 29 36 
			 Found guilty 24 25 16 8 12 19 
			 Sentenced 24 25 16 8 12 19 
			 Of which:       
			 Absolute discharge — — — — — — 
			 Conditional discharge — — — — — — 
			 Fine — — — — — — 
		
	
	
		
			 Community sentence — — — — — — 
			 Suspended sentence 1 2 1 — — — 
			 Immediate custody 23 23 15 8 12 18 
			 Otherwise dealt with6 — — — — — — 
			 '—' = Nil. 1 Offences under section 4(1) to 4(3) of the Asylum and Immigration (treatment of Claimants) Act 2004 and S 57 - 59 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. 2 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for or found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 3 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 4 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. 5 Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. 6 The category Otherwise Dealt With (ODW) includes: one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services—Ministry of Justice.

Insolvency

Richard Fuller: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what representations he has had on including insolvency litigation in the scope of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

Shailesh Vara: We have recently received representations from insolvency practitioners, including the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3), regarding a permanent exemption for insolvency litigation from the scope of the costs and funding provisions in part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act 2012. Ministry of Justice officials have met with R3 on this matter.
	The LASPO reforms were implemented generally from 1 April 2013, although they were delayed for insolvency proceedings in order to allow stakeholders time to adjust. The Government’s position remains—as announced by written ministerial statement in May 2012 (24 May 2012, Official Report, column 94WS)—that the reforms should apply to insolvency proceedings from April 2015.

Prison Accommodation

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners are being held in police cells; what the daily cost is of holding such prisoners; and how many prisoners were held in police cells in (a) Bury St Edmunds constituency, (b) Suffolk and (c) England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners held overnight in a police cell has come down to around 1,400 in 2013-14, after reaching a peak of over 50,000 in 2007-08.
	Prison numbers fluctuate throughout the year and we have sufficient accommodation for the current and expected population. We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. There will be more adult male prison capacity in May 2015 than there was at the start of this Parliament.
	Police cells, under Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on stand by since the end of October 2008.
	We are not using police cells due to a lack of space, but because it is not always possible to transfer prisoners from courts to prisons in the time available at the end of court sittings—we have over half a million prisoner transfers a year so it is unsurprising that occasionally we cannot get prisoners back to their prison for one night.
	As part of standard logistical arrangements, there are occasions where prisoners may be temporarily held overnight in police cells. This is solely for overnight accommodation by the police before collection and onward transmission to the prison establishment the following working day. This is not the same as using Operation Safeguard, as in 2007-08.
	For the above occasions, under the existing National Offender Management Service/Association of Chief Police Officers National Framework Agreement, it costs £55 for a prisoner to stay in a police cell overnight
	The following table shows (i) the total number of prisoners who were temporarily held overnight in police cells in England and Wales in each year since 2005-06 and (ii) of which, the numbers held in police cells in the Suffolk police force area (identified by the number in brackets), in each year since 2009-10. The totals include adults, young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) and young people (15 to 17-year-olds). In order to identify individual police station locations to identify those in the Bury St Edmunds constituency would require a manual check of each record and this could not be done without incurring disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  Number 
			 2005-06 286 
			 2006-07 16,719 
			 2007-08 52,879 
			 2008-09 4,769 
			 2009-10 182 (1) 
			 2010-11 191 (6) 
			 2011-12 1,474 (1) 
			 2012-13 686 (1) 
			 2013-14 1,412 (4)

Prison Accommodation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions prisoners were held in (a) police station and (b) court cells in each month since January 2014.

Jeremy Wright: The number of prisoners held overnight in a police cell has come down to around 1,400 in 2013-14, after reaching a peak of over 50,000 in 2007-08.
	Prison numbers fluctuate throughout the year and we have sufficient accommodation for the current and expected population. We will always have enough prison places for those sent to us by the courts. There will be more adult male prison capacity in May 2015 than there was at the start of this Parliament.
	Police cells, under Operation Safeguard, have not been used since 22 September 2008 and no police cells under Operation Safeguard have been on stand by since the end of October 2008. Court cells have not been used since 28 February 2008 and have been stood down since March 2008.
	As part of standard logistical arrangements, there are occasions where prisoners may be temporarily held overnight in police cells.
	We are not using police cells due to a lack of space but because it is not always possible to transfer prisoners from courts to prisons in the time available at the end of court sittings-we have over half a million prisoner transfers a year so it is unsurprising that occasionally we cannot get prisoners back to their prison for one night.
	This is solely for overnight accommodation by the police before collection and onward transmission to the prison establishment the following working day. This is not the same as using Operation Safeguard, as in 2007-08.
	The following table shows (i) the total number of prisoners who were temporarily held overnight in police cells in England and Wales in each month since January 2014. The totals include adults, young adults (18 to 20-year-olds) and young people (15 to 17-year-olds).
	
		
			  Number of prisoners 
			 January 2014 168 
			 February 2014 372 
			 March 2014 175 
			 April 2014 64 
			 May 2014 46

Prisons: Capital Investment

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the capital investment budget was for prisons in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13 and (d) 2013-14; and what the equivalent budget allocation is for 2014-15.

Jeremy Wright: Details of the major capital expenditure (funded centrally) for prisons (excluding immigration removal centres) in each year since 2010-11 are shown in the table below. Note that for 2010-11 to 2013-14 actual expenditure is given to reflect the true value of investment. The figure for 2014-15 shows the budget for major capital expenditure and includes the capital maintenance budget as well as investment in new houseblocks, the new prison for North Wales in Wrexham and the Secure College.
	
		
			 Financial year Major capital expenditure (rounded) (£ million) 
			 2010-11 350 
			 2011-12 161 
			 2012-13 118 
			 2013-14 151 
			 2014-15 165

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Gavin Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that the perpetrators of assaults against prison staff are appropriately punished;
	(2)  what action he is taking to ensure that incidents of assault against prison staff are being effectively investigated.

Jeremy Wright: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) takes assaults on prison staff very seriously. There are systems in place to deal with perpetrators quickly and robustly, with serious incidents referred to the police for prosecution.
	Prisoners engaging in violent behaviour will be subject to an immediate review of their Incentives and Earned Privileges (IEP) level. There is a strong presumption that such incidents will lead to an immediate downgrade to Basic level unless there are exceptional circumstances.
	Assaults on staff in prison are a particularly serious matter given the need for staff to be able to maintain control and order in what can be a volatile environment. NOMS is working closely with the police and CPS to develop a new joint protocol for the management, reporting and prosecution of crime in prisons. Part of this work will involve the development of more effective measures to enable successful prosecution of prisoners who assault NOMS staff.
	NOMS is committed to exploring options to continue to improve how violence is managed in prisons to keep both staff and prisoners safe. It is currently reviewing the policy and practice of the management of violence.
	Prison Service Instructions set-out the range of options available to Governors to investigate serious assaults. The Governor must ensure that an appropriate level of investigation is commissioned. They must also ensure that any lessons are learned from the incident and disseminated appropriately, those harmed are supported and perpetrators of harm are sanctioned.

Rape

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many people were (a) prosecuted for, (b) convicted of, (c) cautioned for and (d) given a non-custodial sentence for rape in each year since 2008;
	(2)  how many people were (a) prosecuted for, (b) convicted of, (c) cautioned for and (d) given a non-custodial sentence for child cruelty and neglect in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: Severe maximum penalties are available for serious offences. Where an offender is prosecuted and convicted sentencing in individual cases is a matter for the courts, taking account of all the circumstances of each case. This will include the age of the offender, the seriousness of the offence, including all aggravating and mitigating factors, and a guilty plea.
	Since 2010, crime has continued to fall but at the same time offenders are more likely to be sent to prison, and for longer. The average custodial sentence length is 15.5 months across all indictable offences, which is the highest in more than a decade, and the use of cautions is at its lowest level for 40 years. We are continuing to overhaul sentencing to ensure that the toughest sentencing measures are available to the courts. We have introduced an automatic life sentence for a second very serious sexual or violent offence and we propose to end automatic early release for all dangerous offenders. All serious offences should always be prosecuted at court. We are clamping down on the use of cautions for serious offences and repeat offenders, and reviewing the whole spectrum of out of court disposals so we have clarity and consistency and most importantly we have a system that victims and the public have confidence in.
	Data for 2009 to 2013 on cautions and court outcomes for rape and neglect and cruelty to children are available at the following link to the new ‘Outcomes by offence’ table. The rape data can be found in the sexual offences section, and the neglect and cruelty to children data can be found in the ‘violence against the person’ section.
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/311319/8-outcomes-by-offence.xls
	For the period 2008 please use the following links and select Volume 5, where the classification of the offences remains the same:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110322191207/http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/criminal-statistics-2008-v5.zip
	For 2008 cautions, please use the following link. Select Volume 3 Part 7, which provides data on ‘Persons cautioned for indictable offences by Offence, sex and age in table S3.7a’. As above, the classifications remain the same:
	http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110322191207/http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/criminal-statistics-2008-v3.zip

Repossession Orders

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department expects to raise from increased Notice to Seek Possession fees in (a) 2014-15, (b) 2015-16 and (c) 2016-17.

Shailesh Vara: We expect to generate around £35 million in additional gross income in 2014-15 and subsequent years from increased Notice to Seek Possession fees.
	However, as part of our reforms, we also removed the listing and allocation fees for possession claims in the county and High Court.

Stalking

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were (a) prosecuted for, (b) convicted of, (c) cautioned for and (d) given a non-custodial sentence for each of the stalking offences in sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in 2013.

Jeremy Wright: The number of offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty and sentenced at all courts under sections 2A and 4A of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, in England and Wales, from 2012 to 2013 (the latest data available), is shown in the following table. These offences came into force in November 2012.
	
		
			 Offenders cautioned and defendants proceeded against at magistrates court, found guilty and sentenced at all courts for ‘stalking’ offences, England and Wales, 2012 to 20131, 2, 3 
			 Statute Offence  2012 2013 
			 Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.2A Pursue course of conduct in breach of S.1(1) which amounts to stalking Cautions — 32 
			   Proceeded against 8 293 
			   Found guilty 2 196 
			   Sentenced 2 192 
			   Of which:   
			   Absolute discharge — — 
			   Conditional discharge 1 16 
			   Fine 1 15 
			   Community sentence — 80 
			   Suspended sentence — 41 
			   Immediate custody — 35 
			   Otherwise dealt with4 — 5 
			      
			 Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4A Stalking involving fear of violence and involving serious alarm/distress Cautions — 7 
			   Proceeded against — 154 
			   Found guilty — 53 
			   Sentenced — 42 
			   Of which:   
			   Absolute discharge — — 
			   Conditional discharge — 2 
			   Fine — — 
		
	
	
		
			   Community sentence — 10 
			   Suspended sentence — 14 
			   Immediate custody — 14 
			   Otherwise dealt with — 2 
			 “—” = Nil. 1 The figures given in the table relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been cautioned for or found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. 2 Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. 3 The number of offenders sentenced can differ from those found guilty as it may be the case that a defendant found guilty in a particular year, and committed for sentence at the Crown court, may be sentenced in the following year. 4 The category otherwise dealt with (ODW) includes: one day in police cells; disqualification order; restraining order; confiscation order; travel restriction order; disqualification from driving; recommendation for deportation; and other miscellaneous disposals. Note: Offences introduced 25 November 2012. Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.

TREASURY

Fuel Duty

Gordon Henderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of freezing fuel duty on the price of petrol.

Nicky Morgan: Since 2011, the Government have abolished the previous Government’s fuel duty escalator, cut duty by 1 penny per litre and scrapped four planned duty increases. As a result, by the end of the Parliament, petrol will cost nearly 20 pence per litre less than under the previous Government’s plans.

Employment Levels

Angie Bray: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the economy of the level of employment.

Nicky Morgan: There are more people in work than ever before with the latest figures showing the fastest increase in employment since records began in 1971. Since the coalition came into power, employment has increased by more than one and half million and unemployment has fallen by over 300,000, with over 2 million private sector jobs created since early 2010. Over this period, for every public sector job lost, over five have been created in the private sector. The female employment rate is at its highest since records began in 1971.
	By tackling the economy’s problems head on and getting people back into work, we are helping to boost living standards for hard-working families.

Financial Devolution

Bob Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what analysis his Department has undertaken of the feasibility of further financial devolution to London and other cities.

David Gauke: The Government keep all decisions on tax policy under review. In addition, the Government has recently devolved a range of responsibilities and funding through the Localism Act 2011 and have decentralised local government finance through the Local Government Finance Act 2012. Any further fiscal devolution to sub-national authorities in England would represent a significant change to the existing tax landscape with potentially significant legal, economic and constitutional implications.

Pensioner Savings

Chloe Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government are taking to give pensioners more control over their savings.

David Gauke: Budget 14 announced the most radical change to the way people take their pensions for nearly a century. From April 2015, individuals aged 55 or over with defined contribution savings will have much greater flexibility over access to their pension savings, which they will be able to withdraw subject only to their marginal rate of income tax and their scheme rules. We have also made changes to allow more people to access greater flexibility.
	In addition, ISAs, popular with over 24 million UK savers, are to be reformed from 1 July 2014 into a more flexible product. The new ISA will leave savers free to choose how to split their increased £15,000 annual allowance between cash and stocks and shares ISAs and to transfer funds in any direction between accounts.

Long-term Economic Plan

Simon Burns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his long-term economic plan.

Nicky Morgan: The Government’s long-term economic plan is working, and the UK is expected to grow faster than any other G7 country this year. Inflation is below target, the deficit has been reduced by over a third since 2009-10, and employment is at record levels. But the job is not yet done and the biggest risk now to the recovery would be abandoning the plan that is delivering a brighter economic future.

Money Advice Service

David Mowat: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the future of the Money Advice Service.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government have commissioned an independent review of the Money Advice Service, led by Christine Farnish, which will report to me by the end of the year.
	MAS has an important responsibility to increase financial knowledge and capability in the UK. The review will consider how effectively and efficiently MAS is meeting the consumer need for education and advice; and make recommendations on any changes to MAS’s approach that would better enable it to meet this need.

Job Creation

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what fiscal steps he has taken to support small and micro-businesses in creating new jobs.

Nicky Morgan: Support for small and micro businesses is part of the Government’s long term economic plan to back business and create jobs. From April this year, businesses can access a £2,000 employment allowance. Over 90% of the benefit of this allowance will go to small businesses—reducing the cost of creating new jobs.
	In addition, from April 2015 we will abolish employer NICs for all under 21-year-olds making it cheaper for businesses to employ young people.

Air Passenger Duty: Scotland

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met the Scottish Government to discuss air passenger duty.

Nicky Morgan: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings and discussions with a wide variety of organisations as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings and discussions.

Children: Day Care

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of divorced and separated parents who will have to decide which of them should own a tax-free childcare account; how HM Revenue and Customs plans to resolve disputes over such decisions; and what additional resources will be committed for this purpose.

Nicky Morgan: It is estimated that of the families that will directly benefit from the tax-free child care scheme around 95% are couples and 5% are lone parents. Based on the best available data, we estimate that around half of these lone parents will be either divorced or separated.
	Working lone parents are more likely to have lower income levels than working couples. More lone parents will therefore receive support for child care through tax credits and then subsequently universal credit which is generally more generous than tax-free child care.
	On 18 March the Government published their response to the consultation on design and operation of tax-free child care which sets out that where adults in a family are unable to reach agreement about which of them should claim, HMRC will consider the facts of the case and make a decision.
	The resource requirements of the scheme will be settled once the scheme’s details have been finalised.

Dover Priory Station

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons Mapeley has not come to an agreement with Network Rail regarding the sale of land on the western perimeter of the Priory Court site for the construction of new parking facilities for Dover Priory railway station.

David Gauke: Commercial arrangements in relation to the land at the Priory Court site are a matter for discussion between Network Rail and Mapeley. The Crown does not own the land.

Fracking

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government's proposed fiscal framework for onshore oil and gas exploration, as established within the Finance Bill 2014, has been notified to the European Commission under State Aid procedures.

Nicky Morgan: The changes in tax treatment for onshore oil and gas do not constitute state aid and notification is therefore not required.

Gambling

Graham Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to hypothecate funds received from the increased fixed-odds betting terminals levy to fund NHS gambling addiction treatment.

David Gauke: The Responsible Gambling Trust (which is funded by the gambling industry and further donations) expects to distribute £6,292,000 on treatment, education and research in 2014-15. This provides funding to specialist charities, such as GamCare, which provide gambling addiction treatment.

Income Tax

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he plans to display changes to the amount of income tax levied on an individual on their end of year statement.

David Gauke: From October 2014 around 24 million people will receive a personal tax summary from HMRC setting out how their income tax and national insurance contributions have been calculated for the previous year (2013-14) and how it contributed to public expenditure. Tax summaries will also show taxpayers their taxable income and average tax rate, allowing the individual in future to compare one year’s tax record with another.

Infrastructure

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 17 June 2014, Official Report, column 598W, on infrastructure, which projects included in the UK Guarantees Scheme have required additional emergency funding from the Exchequer.

Danny Alexander: No additional emergency funding has been provided to any of the signed projects that have received support under the UK Guarantees Scheme.

Mapeley

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2014, Official Report, column 394W, on Mapeley, what contingency plan HM Revenue and Customs has for dealing with a supplier which (a) becomes unprofitable and (b) is in a weak financial position.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) major contracts contain commercial provisions in case of supplier difficulties, for example step in rights or other contractual remedies. HMRC is unable to publish details of contingency plans for commercial reasons.

Network Rail

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects Network Rail to be officially re-classified as a public sector company.

Danny Alexander: On 17 December 2013, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that Network Rail will be classified as a central Government body in the public sector. This is an independent statistical decision taken by the Office for National Statistics in light of the European System of National Accounts 2010 (ESA10) manual from Eurostat. The reclassification will be effective from 1 September 2014 when ESA10 comes into force across the European Union.

Nuclear Power Stations

Joan Walley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to complete the loan guarantee arrangement for the proposed nuclear power station investments.

Nicky Morgan: Completion of the loan guarantee arrangements for the proposed nuclear power station for Hinkley Point C will coincide with the European Commission's closing decision on the Government's state aid notification in relation to the project. This is expected by the end of 2014.
	If a guarantee is signed it will be reported to Parliament as required by the legislation, Infrastructure (Financial Assistance) Act 2012, underpinning the scheme.

Roads: City of Westminster

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what works are currently being undertaken in King Charles Street, Westminster; and when the scaffolding and road and pavement equipment related to the works will be removed.

Andrea Leadsom: The scaffolding and pavement equipment on King Charles Street are in support of works being undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Sanitary Protection: Taxation

Naomi Long: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to abolish tax on sanitary products.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave on 12 June 2014, Official Report, column 256W.

Taxation

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what fiscal measures he has introduced to reduce taxes on families;
	(2)  what fiscal measures he has introduced to reduce the level of taxes paid by families.

David Gauke: This Government appreciate that times are tough and budgets are squeezed for families, which is why we have taken continued action to help ease the burden on hard working families.
	Measures have included raising the personal allowance to £10,500, abolishing the previous Government's fuel duty escalator, and introducing a further two years of council tax freeze funding in 2014-15 and 2015-16 for local authorities which choose to freeze council tax.

Video Games: Tax Allowances

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to promote the video games tax relief to video games producers.

David Gauke: The video games tax relief came into effect from 1 April 2014. This generous new relief will provide support for the growing video games sector in the UK.
	HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is currently presenting a series of events across the country to promote and explain the new relief to the industry. A specialist unit has been provided to assist businesses with making claims. Guidance is available on HMRC's website to explain the relief and help businesses decide whether they are eligible for relief. HMRC is working closely with the video games industry to develop more detailed guidance, which will be published shortly.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bahrain

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Bahrain.

Hugh Robertson: We believe that the only way to promote peace and stability in Bahrain and address the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis is through dialogue leading to an inclusive political settlement. With elections in October, we hope that this is an opportunity to reach a deal. We encourage all sides to engage constructively in this process.

Bangladesh

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the political situation in Bangladesh since the elections in that country.

Hugh Robertson: Bangladesh’s political parties must address political accountability and find a long-term solution to run participatory and non violent parliamentary elections. The Senior Minister of State, my noble Friend the right hon. Baroness Warsi, last discussed this issue with the Bangladesh Foreign Minister on 12 June. Reports of intimidation, violence and interference in local elections must be addressed. We have urged the Election Commission to fully and transparently investigate. The British Government are also deeply concerned at reports of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. We have pressed the Bangladesh Government to conduct impartial, credible and transparent investigations.

Bangladesh

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the Bangladeshi Government hold free and fair elections in future.

Hugh Robertson: The 10th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh were held on 5 January in accordance with Bangladesh’s constitution. Voters in more than half the constituencies did not have the opportunity to express their will at the ballot box and that turnout in most other constituencies was low.
	The British Government continue to encourage Bangladesh’s political parties to support political dialogue to find a long term solution to running participatory and non-violent elections, and urge that parties address the matter of political accountability. All parties should build the willingness and capacity to hold future participatory elections without fear of intimidation or reprisals.
	The British Government have also called on the Election Commission to mount a full and transparent investigation into reports of violence, harassment and interference in the voting process in recent local elections and take appropriate action.

Bangladesh

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure the safety of British Bangladeshis who visit or live in Bangladesh.

Hugh Robertson: The FCO Travel Advice is designed to provide information that will help British nationals stay safe when they travel abroad. It is updated frequently with information and advice for those planning to travel abroad. Any threats to British nationals are reflected in the advice we publish and this is reviewed and amended as necessary on a regular basis.
	Campaigns under the Know Before You Go umbrella look at different issues, including for example "Living Abroad"-which launched in September 2013 and encouraged British nationals considering a move overseas to research and prepare properly before taking that step.
	It is the responsibility of the local police in Bangladesh to ensure the safety of British nationals. Should British nationals have concerns about their safety we can, with their permission, raise with the local authorities as appropriate.

Bangladesh

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of the recent actions by the US against Bangladesh.

Hugh Robertson: We are not aware of any recent action taken by the US against Bangladesh.

Burma

Richard Harrington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent steps he has taken to help the Rohingya peoples in Burma; what recent discussions he has had with the Burmese Government on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Hugo Swire: The UK is giving £12 million in aid to Rakhine State to support shelter, water sanitation and hygiene programmes, nutrition and protection activities, as well as non-food items for 115,000 people. We are also funding £4.5 million towards livelihoods projects in Rakhine and support to the UN's co-ordination of the international humanitarian response.
	We remain one of the most vocal and active members of the international community in supporting those calling for human rights and democracy in Burma. I was the first western Minister to visit Rakhine State in December 2012. I raised concerns again with the Burmese Government during my second visit to Burma in January this year, and I again saw Rohingya leaders to hear from them about the many issues they are facing.
	The plight of the Rohingya was also at the top of the agenda during the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Thein Sein in London in July 2013. In March this year, I summoned the Burmese ambassador and called on the Burmese Government urgently to restore humanitarian access to all communities in need, and to ensure the security of humanitarian aid workers and all communities in Rakhine State. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), again raised our concerns in a call with his Burmese counterpart in April, and I most recently discussed the situation with the Burmese Deputy Foreign Minister on 12 June.
	We will continue to urge the Burmese Government to take swift and decisive action to protect the lives and rights of Rohingya and other minorities in Rakhine State, and to address the underlying causes of ethnic and religious discrimination and violence.

Central African Republic

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that the UN-led peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic is prepared to protect civilians and is fully operational as soon as possible.

Mark Simmonds: We are working closely with partners to support UN planning for MINUSCA’s deployment as mandated on 15 September, ready to assume immediate responsibility for the protection of civilians. We will continue to provide expertise and resources to ensure a well planned, phased approach that prioritises protection of civilians, and enables a smooth transition of responsibility for security from the African Union led mission, MISCA. We will also continue to support efforts to identify troops and equipment to contribute to MINUSCA’s military component.

Central African Republic

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he will take to ensure that survivors of sexual violence in the Central African Republic have access to lifesaving services that respond to the specific needs of women and girls.

Mark Simmonds: The UK remains extremely concerned about the grave humanitarian and security situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and is working closely with international partners and CAR's Transitional Government to bring stability to CAR and ensure the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
	We welcome the announcement made by the African Union at the 10 to 13 June global summit to ending sexual violence in conflict about the deployment of a team of experts to CAR to investigate sexual violence abuses. This will be funded by the UK and Japan.
	The decision by Transitional President Samba-Panza to refer CAR to the International Criminal Court is a positive step towards tackling impunity and bringing charges against those most responsible for crimes, including sexual violence.

Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Government have paid to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus in each of the last four years; and what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of that committee.

David Lidington: In 2010 the Government made a bilateral contribution of US$4,037, and in 2013 the Government provided US$56,797. The Committee on Missing Persons (CMP) has used the UK’s most recent contribution to buy a backup generator and DNA matching software. EU funding of the CMP, to which the UK contributes, totalled US$16,289,719 from 2006-14. We did not provide any bilateral funds in 2011 or 2012.
	In addition to this financial support, the Government support the CMP by allowing it to work from a British-owned site in the Buffer Zone, thus easing its administration costs. The UK also indirectly supports the CMP through lobbying of parties which can facilitate the Committee’s work. We hope that our political support and contributions through the EU will continue to help the CMP in its important work.
	CMP funds are administered by the United Nations Development Programme according to international accounting standards with independent financial audits undertaken on an annual basis. We have made no specific assessment of the cost effectiveness of the CMP. We nonetheless recognise and welcome the painstaking, sensitive, and technically challenging work undertaken by the bicommunal teams of the CMP.

Roads: City of Westminster

Michael Fabricant: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what works are currently being undertaken in King Charles Street, Westminster; and when the scaffolding and road and pavement equipment related to the works will be removed.

David Lidington: The works currently being undertaken by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in King Charles Street are part of the Department's UK Estate Reform Project. This involves the consolidation of the FCO's London HQ presence into a single office building. The project is a major reconfiguration of the King Charles Street building and will release the Old Admiralty Building to the Department for Education. This will allow leased office space to be vacated and overall Government spending on the UK civil estate to be reduced.
	The gantry being installed in King Charles Street will be completed by the end of June 2014 and will remain in situ for the duration of the project, which is due to be completed in summer 2015. The scaffold is part of the Planning and Listed Building Consent granted by Westminster council. When completed, the gantry will extend over the pavement between Clive Steps and the western side of the main entrance to the FCO building. Pedestrians will still be able to walk up King Charles Street and the main entrance to the FCO will remain fully accessible.

UK Membership of EU

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his priorities are for renegotiating UK membership of the EU.

David Lidington: The Government's priorities are to reform the EU so that it is more flexible, competitive and democratically accountable. We want to see further deepening of the Single European Market, especially in services; an ambitious and sustained drive to cut red tape, and successful free trade negotiations with the United States, Japan and other countries. We are also seeking greater powers for groups of national parliaments to block or review EU legislation; an end to benefit tourism, and the development of economic and monetary union in a way that safeguards the interests of countries that have chosen not to join the euro. The Government have already made progress in delivering reform, including cutting the EU budget for the first time and securing reforms of the common fisheries policy that include a ban on discards and a shift to the regional and local management of fisheries.

United Arab Emirates

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Government of the United Arab Emirates regarding migrant workers' rights in that country; and if he will make a statement.

Hugh Robertson: We regularly discuss migrant workers’ rights with the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In addition, we made recommendations relating to the living and working conditions of foreign workers during the UAE’s last Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.

Western Sahara

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the Moroccan Ambassador to the UK the situation of the political prisoners in Saharawi; and what information he has received from HM Ambassador in Morocco on the state of health of Abdalah Boukiod.

Hugh Robertson: We regularly emphasise to Morocco the importance of full respect for human rights in Western Sahara. Minister Robertson discussed this issue during his trip to Rabat in March this year. We are aware of reports that Abdalah Boukiod has been on hunger strike since 20 May. We do not have further information on the state of his health.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Central African Republic

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the level of food insecurity in the Central African Republic; and what steps her Department is taking to promote short and long-term food security in that country.

Lynne Featherstone: Food security assessments in Central African Republic (CAR) have shown that 1.7 million people are in need of food assistance. Food security has been affected by lack of access to agricultural land in 2013, attacks on crop reserves, poor rainfall, non-payment of civil servants and the collapse of trading networks.
	DFID is funding the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Solidarites International and the ICRC for seeds and tools distribution to improve food security in the medium to long-term, as well as supporting cash and food distribution to address the short-term food security situation. DFID has contributed £18 million in 2014 to the crisis in CAR.

Central African Republic

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what support her Department provides for services for survivors of gender-based violence in the Central African Republic and efforts to empower women and girls in that country.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID is supporting a number of agencies in the Central African Republic to provide services for survivors of sexual violence, including Save the Children, International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, ICRC and UNHCR. DFID funds are supporting health projects where the clinical needs of survivors of sexual violence can be met, and women’s listening centres in order to address some of the psychological needs of survivors of gender-based violence.
	Women in the Central African Republic have been particularly affected by the ongoing conflict. DFID programmes aim to address these vulnerabilities, for instance by catering for the specific needs of mothers, pregnant and breastfeeding women, supporting women’s associations in resuming income-generating activities or by mobilising communities to reduce the risks of gender-based violence.

Central African Republic

Anas Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the effect of recent inter-communal violence in Bangui, Central African Republic on Muslims and other communities at risk in that country.

Lynne Featherstone: The roots of the conflict in Central African Republic (CAR) are complex and while the recent inter-communal violence is primarily targeting Muslim inhabitants, Christian communities have also fallen victim to sectarian killings. Much of the Muslim population of CAR has fled, including traders who were overwhelmingly Muslim.
	DFID is funding agencies such as UNHCR, Mercy Corps and the ICRC to implement protection programmes in CAR, including conflict resolution and social cohesion activities. DFID has contributed £18 million in 2014 towards the crisis. The UK is also supporting the international efforts to restore peace and security and has welcomed the adoption of UNSCR 2149 authorising the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission (MISCA).

Developing Countries: Disability

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to ensure that all cities are accessible and offer opportunities to persons with disabilities by 2030 in Open Working Group negotiations on the sustainable development goals.

Justine Greening: As we have already made clear, the UK agrees that all cities should be accessible and offer opportunities to persons with disabilities by 2030. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.
	The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will, however, be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

Developing Countries: Industry

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to retrofit existing industries on global level based on energy and resource-efficient technologies and environmentally sound industrial processes by 2030 in Open Working Group negotiations on the sustainable development goals.

Justine Greening: As we have already made clear, the UK supports a target to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.
	The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will, however, be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

Developing Countries: Migration

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to enhance global co-operation to facilitate orderly, safe, responsible migration and mobility of people, including through implementation of planned and managed migration policies that facilitate migrants’ contribution to sustainable development in Open Working Group negotiations on the sustainable development goals.

Justine Greening: As we have already made clear, the UK recognises that the potential for migration to be a positive force for developing countries is increased when migration is safe, legal and through regular channels; and as such global migration can contribute to sustainable development. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.
	The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will, however, be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations in which the UK will play an active role.

Developing Countries: Remittances

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make it her policy to support the adoption of a target to reduce to five % or below the transaction costs of migrants' remittances, including regulatory and administrative costs in Open Working Group negotiations on the sustainable development goals.

Justine Greening: As we have already made clear, the UK supports the target of reducing the average global cost of remittances to 5.0%. This language is included in the most recent draft goals and targets list released by the co-chairs of the Open Working Group (OWG) on 2 June.
	The final targets in the post-2015 development framework will however be subject to international negotiations in the United Nations, in which the UK will play an active role.

Freedom of Information

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many freedom of information requests on aid projects her Department has declined to provide information on in each of the last 12 months.

Justine Greening: The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) publishes a quarterly statistics bulletin concerning FOI responses from all Government Departments including DFID. The bulletin includes tables showing how many requests were granted in full, or resulted in some information being withheld or all information withheld. The MOJ statistics bulletin can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics

Telephone Services

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 her Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.

Alan Duncan: DFID uses one 0845 number for UK calls to the Public Enquiry Point. We do not record the number of calls made to the 0845 number. There is no alternative BT local rate number offered as the 0845 number in use is already charged to callers at the local rate.
	DFID has no telephone lines with the prefix 0844 or 0843.